{"id":31262,"date":"2016-09-28T15:01:32","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T14:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=31262"},"modified":"2016-09-28T10:40:43","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T09:40:43","slug":"executives-big-bonuses-great-australian-bight-oil-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2016\/09\/28\/executives-big-bonuses-great-australian-bight-oil-rush\/","title":{"rendered":"Executives up for big bonuses in Great Australian Bight oil rush"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four out of five companies looking to drill the Great Australian Bight will pay their top executives vast bonuses if they strike oil\u00a0beneath\u00a0the ocean.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Environmental experts\u00a0warned these incentives clashed with international climate goals, which imply a phaseout of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

A report released by financial activist group Market\u00a0Forces on Thursday calculated the biggest exploration-related\u00a0bonus for any oil company with interests in Australia was a potential AU$1.13 million a year for Bob Dudley, the chief executive of BP.<\/p>\n

Dudley’s\u00a0company is the first in line to open up the Great Australian Bight’s oil leases, although it\u00a0experienced a setback on Wednesday when the\u00a0Australian government regulator rejected\u00a0BP’s environmental plan for a third time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reports to the national offshore drilling administrator<\/a> show other international majors Chevron and Murphy joining BP making investments in the Bight basin, as well as local companies Santos and Bight Petroleum. All except for Bight Petroleum offer incentives for their top executives to open up new reserves.<\/p>\n

BP’s annual report<\/a> shows that all executive directors are entitled to bonuses if the company hits targets for “relative\u00a0reserves replacement” – in other words if it grows its reserves\u00a0faster than it depletes them. The report notes that BP did this faster than any other major oil company in the world in 2015-16.
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