LONDON, Uk. (AP) – BP has ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to \u201cimportant governance standards, oversight and conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
The departure was abrupt and unexpected, with Albert Manifold having been appointed to the position late last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlbert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP\u2019s transformation,\u201d Amanda Blanc, senior independent director, said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cHowever, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.\u201d<\/p>\n
BP\u2019s board named Ian Tyler as interim chair, effective immediately.<\/p>\n
BP, based in London, is a \u201csupermajor,\u201d one of the five largest oil production and exploration companies in the world when measured by revenue and profit.<\/p>\n
Manifold, who had been the top executive at Dublin-based global building materials company CRH for 10 years, became the chair at BP in October. BP was looking for someone to revamp the oil giant and went with an industry outsider in Manifold, who had made major strategic changes at CRH.<\/p>\n
After a new focus on renewable energy at BP in 2020, by 2025 the company was seeking a return to its roots. BP\u2019s hard reset was criticized by environmentalists, as well as some shareholders.<\/p>\n
CEO Murray Auchincloss said last year that optimism over opportunities in renewable energy was misplaced, with the company moving \u201ctoo far and too fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Changes in leadership at BP in recent years has been tumultuous.<\/p>\n
CEO Bernard Looney resigned in late 2023 after BP determined that he had misled the company over his past relationships with colleagues.<\/p>\n
Auchincloss stepped down in December, and the company named Meg O\u2019Neill as his successor.<\/p>\n
Manifold\u2019s was challenged almost immediately when shareholders defeated company resolutions this spring that would have allowed BP to reduce climate reporting requirements and move its annual meetings fully online. Some 18% of shareholders voted against Manifold\u2019s election as chairman, a high level of opposition for an appointment that is generally rubber stamped by investors.<\/p>\n
Legal & General, one of Britain\u2019s largest insurers and investment companies, said at the time that Manifold was responsible for resolutions that would have had \u201ca negative impact on shareholders\u2019 insight into how the company is addressing financially material long-term risks, and seizing long-term value creation opportunities, associated with the energy transition,\u201d the Times of London reported on April 23.<\/p>\n
Glass Lewis, an influential shareholder advisor, urged investors to vote against Manifold\u2019s election. It held that BP took \u201cunprecedented action\u201d by refusing to consider a resolution from a group of climate activists and pension funds hoping to force the board to create an alternative strategy should demand for fossil fuels decline, the Times reported.<\/p>\n
Like other big oil companies, BP has struggled with falling demand in recent years.<\/p>\n
BP\u2019s 2025 earnings fell 16% from a year earlier to $7.49 billion as the price of Brent crude, a benchmark for international oil prices, dropped 16.9%. The company\u2019s preferred measure of earnings is underlying replacement cost profit, which adjusts for one-time items and fluctuations in the market value of inventories. Net income plunged 86% to $55 million.<\/p>\n
Last year there were media reports that British oil giant Shell was in talks to buy rival BP. Shell denied the reports at the time.<\/p>\n
The search for a new chair is underway, BP said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Shares of BP Plc slid nearly 5% in midday trading on the NYSE. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON, Uk. (AP) – BP has ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to \u201cimportant governance standards, oversight and conduct.\u201d The departure was abrupt and unexpected, with Albert Manifold having been appointed to the position late last year. \u201cAlbert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP\u2019s transformation,\u201d Amanda Blanc, … Continue reading Oil giant BP ousts new chairman over \u2018conduct\u2019 and shares slide<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2851],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1510217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news-archive"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-02 02:11:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1510217"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1510645,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510217\/revisions\/1510645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1510217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1510217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1510217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}