BP Chair to Resign Amid Pressure from Shareholders
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Chair of BP, Helge Lund, has announced plans to step down from the struggling oil company after growing shareholder opposition derailed its net zero agenda.
The oil company said that Lund planned to leave his post “in due course” once a successor has joined the board, which would “most likely” be in 2026.
His decision to step down from the role, which he has held since 2019, comes after the board was forced to reverse the company’s green agenda to defend it against Elliott, a feared New York hedge fund known for its attempts to shake up listed companies.
Elliot began to build a multibillion-pound stake in BP earlier this year after growing dissatisfaction among shareholders over the company’s plan to curb its fossil fuel production in favour of green investments.
It was widely expected that the activist investor would call for a boardroom shake-up at BP, including the ousting of Lund, who played a leading role in setting the green agenda that ultimately failed to convince shareholders.
The net zero strategy was set by the former BP Chief Executive, Bernard Looney, who was appointed by Lund in 2020 to transform the oil company into an integrated energy company, the Guardian UK reported.
However, the shift was undermined by a rise in global oil and gas prices – which handed bumper profits to companies growing fossil fuel production – and the shock departure of Looney after failing to fully disclose to the board past relationships with BP colleagues.
Helge Lund has been the BP chair since 2019. BP’s current Chief Executive, Murray Auchincloss, set out a “fundamental reset” of the company’s strategy weeks after Elliott took aim at the company.
Auchincloss promised investors cuts of more than £4 billion from its low-carbon investment plans in favour of a return to growing fossil fuel production. The plan angered climate campaigners and did little to appease BP’s investors, who have seen BP’s shares underperform compared with its rivals.
