BP appoints new chair to oversee shift back to fossil fuels | BP

BP has appointed a successor to its embattled chair, Helge Lund, as the company breaks from its net zero strategy and pivots back to fossil fuels.

Albert Manifold, the former boss of the building material company CRH, will join the BP board on 1 September as a non-executive director and as chair-elect, before taking over on 1 October.

Lund, chair since 2019 and an important figure in the company’s abandoned green push, announced in April he would step down from his position “most likely during 2026”. Lund also suffered an investor rebellion at BP’s annual meeting amid pressure over its poorly performing share price.

The change in chair comesamid a broader strategic shift at BP, as it cuts back on green spending and returns its focus to oil, after a botched attempt to reinvent itself as a net zero energy company.

Manifold was chief executive of CRH for a decade until the end of last year, and led the shift in the company’s primary listing from London to New York in 2023.

The chief executive of BP, Murray Auchincloss, said last year that switching BP’s listing to the US was “not on the agenda”. BP shares have lagged behind its US peers, while a string of British firms have switched their primary listings from London to New York.

Amanda Blanc, the senior independent director at BP who led the process to find a new chair, said Manifold had “transformed and refocused CRH into a global leader” and praised “his impressive track record of shareholder value creation”.

Manifold, who received a $13m (£9.6m) package for his work at CRH last year, called it “an honour to be appointed chair of one of the world’s great energy companies, and to have the opportunity to help the company reach its full potential”.

BP’s green strategy was set by its previous boss, Bernard Looney, who was appointed by Lund in 2020 to transform the business into an integrated energy company. However, the transition was undermined by a rise in global oil and gas prices, as well as the shock departure of Looney in 2023.

Auchincloss set out a “fundamental reset” this year after the activist hedge fund Elliott Management amassed a multibillion-pound stake in the company amid growing investor dissatisfaction over its sluggish share price.

BP has been rapidly scaling back its green portfolio. Last week, it agreed to sell its onshore wind business in the US, as part of a plan to offload $20bn in assets to “simplify and focus the business”.

Its shares have fallen by more than 10% in the past 12 months, prompting speculation it could become a takeover target. Last month, its rival Shell was forced to deny it had any intention of making an offer for BP, which ruled out a formal approach for the next six months.