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LONDON (Reuters) - BP's (L:BP) head of refining, Iain Conn, is leaving the oil major and holding talks with British utility Centrica (L:CNA) about succeeding its chief executive, Sam Laidlaw, the companies said on Thursday.
Conn, 51, has worked at BP for 29 years, served on its board for the past 10 years and headed the downstream division since 2007. He will be replaced by chief operating officer Tufan Erginbilgic on Oct. 1, BP said.
Following the announcement, Centrica confirmed "that it has been, and continues to be, in discussions with Iain about the possibility of him succeeding Sam Laidlaw as CEO of Centrica".
BP will report its second-quarter results on July 29, and Centrica will report its interim results two days later.
Centrica has faced a potential leadership void after the departure of several of its senior executives in recent months as it contends with public and political anger over soaring energy bills.
Also on Thursday, BP announced the appointment of Alan Boeckmann as a non-executive director.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by)