Moving from the role of chief financial officer to chief executive isn't a well-trodden path in oil companies but there are precedents, notably as Peter Voser, who led Shell from 2009 to 2014. Yet oil majors are also loath to hire their bosses externally and many of Looney's peers at the company, such as Brian Gilvary, Dev Sanyal and Tufan Erginbilgic, left the company for other senior corporate roles after he took the top job in February 2020.