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BP has ousted its chair Albert Manifold following “serious concerns” over his behaviour, the latest blow to the UK oil major which has suffered years of strategic and boardroom upheaval.
Shares in BP fell 6 per cent on Tuesday after the company announced it was removing Manifold less than a year after he was appointed, citing issues with “governance standards, oversight and conduct”.
Manifold, a former chief executive of Irish building supplies group CRH, was viewed by other directors as too aggressive, according to people familiar with discussions inside BP.
Several colleagues saw the level of control he exerted as more akin to that of an executive chair, according to these people. They said Manifold at times spoke down to senior members of staff, both in one-to-one encounters as well as in larger meetings. He was described by one person close to BP’s board as “shouty”.
Amanda Blanc, BP’s senior independent director, said: “Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation. However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”
The move comes just weeks after Meg O’Neill was appointed chief executive to stabilise the company.
One person familiar with the matter said Manifold had attempted to restrict O’Neill’s ability to meet independently with the company’s non-executive directors.
O’Neill, who only started in April and is the first woman to take the top job at BP, forged a reputation as a tough operator as head of Woodside Energy and is said to have bristled at challenges to her authority.
Manifold was appointed as the energy major’s chair in July last year, replacing Helge Lund after six troubled years steering the company. His arrival came months after activist investor Elliott Management disclosed a significant stake in the group. Elliott has pushed for cost cuts and for the company to focus on its core oil and gas business.
He had survived an investor rebellion at BP’s annual meeting last month. More than 18 per cent of investors voted against his election, after advisory group Glass Lewis raised concerns about governance and recommended that investors oppose his re-election.
O’Neill has moved swiftly to make her own imprint on the company, splitting it into two main business units in a return to the UK oil major’s structure before its 2020 effort to transform itself into a green energy group.
The UK-listed company, which has a market capitalisation of about £82bn, has been characterised by instability since its 2020 decision.
It later reversed its decision but the path to regaining its status as an oil and gas producing heavyweight has been fraught with frequent management upheaval.
Bernard Looney, who led the green push, was ousted as chief executive in 2023 after admitting he had failed to disclose the extent of past personal relationships with company employees.
He became the third BP chief executive to leave the company under a cloud since 2007 when Lord John Browne first stepped down following revelations he had lied to a UK court, while Tony Hayward stepped down in 2010 after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP appointed O’Neill in a bid to steady the company’s operations, replacing Murray Auchincloss after less than two years in the role.
BP said board member Ian Tyler would become interim chair. Tyler is an executive of building and utilities companies and has served as an independent non-executive director at BP since last April.
Tyler said BP’s board had been “very impressed” with O’Neill since she took on the role. The group’s leadership still had “deep conviction in the strategic direction we have laid out, and the company is moving at pace to deliver it”, he added.
BP said it would launch a process to find a new chair on a permanent basis.
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