Energy giant BP said 40-year company veteran Bob Dudley, who led the recovery effort following the Deepwater Horizon disaster, will retire as CEO in March.

Dudley, 64, has been CEO for the last decade.

“Bob has dedicated his whole career to the service of this industry. He was appointed chief executive at probably the most challenging time in BP’s history,” said BP Chairman Helge Lund. “During his tenure he has led the recovery from the Deepwater Horizon accident, rebuilt BP as a stronger, safer company and helped it re-earn its position as one of the leaders of the energy sector.”

Bernard Looney, 49, currently chief executive of BP’s upstream operations, will replace Dudley as CEO.

Deepwater Horizon, a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank in 2010, killing 11 workers and spilling an estimated 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf — the largest marine oil spill ever and the biggest environmental disaster in US history.

Fouling coastlines from Florida to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, it also resulted in the largest environmental damage settlements, $20 billion, in 2016.

Total legal and cleanup costs were said to top $60 billion and Dudley is credited with helping to steer BP from the brink of bankruptcy.

The tragedy was dramatized in “Deepwater Horizon,” a 2016 movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell.