BP chief executive Bob Dudley will step down from his current role at the end of March next year, the energy giant announced Friday.

Dudley, who has worked with BP for 40 years and held the position of CEO for almost a decade, will be replaced by BP's current upstream chief executive, Bernard Looney.

The FTSE 100 giant said in a press release that Dudley, who is 64 years old, has decided to step down from his role following the delivery of the firm's 2019 full-year results on February 4, 2020. He will then retire on March 31 later that year.

Looney, 49, will continue with his current role until February 5, at which point he will take the reins from Dudley and join the BP board.

Shares of BP traded up almost 1% on the news.

"It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve this company and work in this industry for the past four decades. I have worked with so many committed people from all over the world — both inside and outside BP — and I am enormously proud of all the things we have achieved together to provide energy for the world," Dudley said in a statement on Friday.

"Bernard (Looney) is a terrific choice to lead the company next. He knows BP and our industry as well as anyone but is creative and not bound by traditional ways of working. I have no doubt that he will thoughtfully lead BP through the transition to a low carbon future," he added.