BP faces shareholder discontent over CEO's $20M pay pack

FILE- In this March 6, 2013 file photo, BP Group Chief Executive Bob Dudley gestures as he speaks at the IHS CERAWEEK energy conference in Houston. BP said Thursday, April 14, 2016, it's ready to listen to shareholder concerns about its executive compensation policy after some of the company's largest shareholders opposed plans to boost CEO Bob Dudley's pay package by 20 percent to $19.6 million even after earnings plunged. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE- In this Feb. 2, 2016 file photo, a sign stands outside the BP International Centre for Business and Technology in Sunbury-on-Thames, south west London. BP says it's ready to listen to shareholder concerns about its executive compensation policy after some of the company's largest shareholders opposed plans to boost CEO Bob Dudley's pay package by 20 percent to $19.6 million even after earnings plunged. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – BP says it's ready to listen to shareholder concerns about its executive compensation policy after some of the company's largest shareholders opposed plans to increase CEO Bob Dudley's pay package by 20 percent to $19.6 million even after earnings plunged.

Aberdeen Asset Management, which manages more than 290 billion pounds ($411 billion), was among those complaining BP's award system was too complex.

"We hear you," Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said in excerpts released Thursday. "We will sit down with our largest shareholders to make sure we understand their concerns and return to seek your support for a renewed policy."

BP's fourth-quarter earnings plunged 91 percent after being hit by low oil prices. It also set aside money to cover costs related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.