BP chief executive Tony Hayward is receive an immediate £600,000-a-year pension when he leaves the firm in October, the BBC has learned.
Mr Hayward is to leave after sustained criticism of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.
However, a BP source says he will be nominated for a non-executive position at the firm's Russian joint venture.
BBC business editor Robert Peston said that the pension entitlement was "bound to be hugely controversial".
Mr Hayward - who is leaving by mutual agreement rather than being sacked - is expected to be replaced by American colleague Bob Dudley, who is in charge of the clean-up operation.
Mr Dudley was the former chief of the BP-TNK joint venture, but was forced to leave Russia in 2008 amid a dispute with shareholders.
BBC News
