Knoware House

The oil giant has to face the future without Peter Sutherland , its Irish chairman, but what is next for the CV of the man who’s already run the World Trade Organisation?

Peter Sutherland was in a grim mood on Monday morning: the day after his native country’s loss to Argentina in the Rugby World Cup, he could scarcely contain himself. He’d been at the game at Parc des Princes with his children and words such as “suicidal” and “bejesus” eminated from his lips.

Barely a few hours previous, he was on the Eurostar, travelling back to Paris, for a meeting that was part politics and part business. Such are the opposing worlds of Sutherland: Dubliner, father of three, huge rugby enthusiast, chairman of BP, chairman of Goldman Sachs International, new chairman of the London School of Economics, diplomatic fixer and afterdinner speaker extraordinaire.

If at the Pearly Gates we are given the option I’d opt to come back as a smart Irishman. In the past, I might have said an English aristocrat but it’s the Irish who are the masters now. They seem to be in control of everything. The epitome of this is Sutherland, a key figure in two business powerhouses as well as an extremely wealthy individual, thanks to his partnership at Goldman. But he’s served 10 years at BP and has initiated the search for a successor. Suddenly, the oil giant needs to accept the reality of life without him .

It’s very easy to establish through talking to anyone at BP, these past few years to realise what a powerhouse Peter Sutherland has been in the background. While the company has had its problems in America, they have been operational. On personnel matters, notably the attempt by Lord Browne and his friends to get the chief executive’s term extended, and then Browne’s departure following his lying under oath, Sutherland has played a pivotal role. His contribution in bringing BP forward is something which few can dispute.