Kate Thomson has been confirmed as BP’s chief financial officer at an annual salary of £800,000, equivalent to just over $1 million.

Thomson’s appointment was not a surprise as she has held this position at the British supermajor since last September, when previous chief financial officer Murray Auchincloss became acting chief executive after Bernard Looney resigned under a cloud.

BP chairman Helge Lund welcomed the formalisation of Thomson’s role and her appointment to the board.

“She has a detailed understanding of BP and the energy and finance sectors, combined with deep technical expertise. Her record of finance leadership together with her performance as interim chief financial officer have clearly demonstrated her suitability to become permanent CFO,” Lund said.

The British oil major confirmed the appointment of Murray Auchincloss as chief executive in January – a choice described as the “best possible outcome” to steer the company forward.

Thomson said: “We’ve made great progress through the past few years in strengthening BP, and I have no doubt this will continue. I’m excited about how we can continue to drive BP’s focus on delivery and growing value as we work towards hitting our targets for 2025.”

Thomson’s experience at BP – which she joined in 2004 – has included being head of finance for production & operations, responsible for the financial stewardship of and commercial partnering with the business globally.

Apart from her salary, her compensation has provisions related to bonus opportunity, bonus deferral and performance shares, said BP, while there is a cash allowance in lieu of pension equal to 20% of her base salary.