BP Won’t Replace L.A.’s Top Executive

The downtown Los Angeles regional headquarters of BP, which owns the Arco and Thrifty chains in California, is losing its top executive and he will not be replaced, a company spokesman said Monday.

When Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield Co. was acquired in 2000 by BP Amoco, as the London-based oil giant was then known, the new owner pledged to maintain a trimmed-down regional headquarters in downtown Los Angeles headed by a regional president running Western U.S. operations.

Now, that top regional executive, Robert A. Malone, is being promoted to a London-based job running the shipping operation of BP, the world’s second-largest publicly traded oil company, said BP spokesman Paul Langland.

Malone’s duties will be taken over by Ross Pillari, a Chicago-based executive who was BP’s other regional president in the United States. Pillari will remain in Chicago and will take the title of president of BP America.

Although the Western headquarters in downtown Los Angeles is losing its titular head, the 90-person office will remain -- at least for the time being -- to handle public relations, governmental affairs, legal work and other functions, Langland said. However, last week BP announced worse-than-expected earnings and is believed to be readying extensive cost cuts, including layoffs around the world.

“We are looking at all of our offices across the United States because of another reorganization,” Langland said. “No decision has been made.”

Meanwhile, BP is shifting responsibility for most of its retail service stations to its La Palma office, Langland said. Previously, the retail business was run by four regional offices around the country, he said.

In addition, BP is sticking to its commitment to make $100 million in charitable contributions in California, Langland said. BP made that promise during the takeover of Arco, a major corporate donor. More than 2,500 Arco employees lost their jobs in the acquisition.