BP announced that it has appointed Carl-Henric Svanberg, currently chief executive officer of the Swedish telecommunications company, Ericsson, to replace Peter Sutherland as chairman of BP.

Svanberg, who is also chairman of Sony Ericsson and a non-executive director of Melker Schörling AB, will join the BP board as chairman-designate and a non-executive director on September 1, 2009.

He will step down at year-end after a seven-year tenure as Ericsson chief executive and Sony Ericsson chairman and succeed Mr Sutherland as chairman of BP on January 1, 2010. He will be based in London and devote the majority of his time to BP business.

Svanberg said: “BP is a recognised world leader in the energy sector and it’s a great privilege to be invited to lead its board. Following such a distinguished predecessor is quite a challenge but I’m hugely excited about joining the energy industry which is so much at the heart of the global economy. I look forward to it with relish.”

The search for the new chairman was conducted by the BP board’s nominations committee.