BP names Meg O’Neill as new CEO after incumbent ousted | BP
BP’s board has appointed its first female chief executive in a bid to revive the oil company’s fortunes, after sacking Murray Auchincloss in less than two years.
Following an unexpected leadership change, Auchincloss will step down as chief executive with immediate effect but will remain in an advisory role until the end of next year.
Auchincloss will be replaced by Meg O’Neill, a former ExxonMobil executive and chairman of Australian oil company Woodside Energy. BP’s chief commercial officer, Carol Howle, will run the company until O’Neill takes the top job in April.
The new oil boss will be the first female chief executive in BP’s 116-year history and the first woman to head any of the world’s five largest oil companies. His appointment also marks the first time BP has hired an outsider for a senior job.
The surprise appointment of BP’s third chief executive in five years comes just weeks after BP appointed Albert Manifold as chairman. Manifold replaces Helge Lund, who presided over the oil company’s failed attempt to embrace the green energy agenda.
The change would be perceived as a sign that the British oil company, which has pursued green energy projects at the expense of increasing oil and gas production, is seeking a renewed push to develop its business, whose shares and earnings have lagged behind rivals such as ExxonMobil and Shell for years.
BP’s green strategy was set out by its previous boss, Bernard Looney, who was appointed by Lund in 2020 to transform the business into an integrated energy company. But the transition has been undermined by a rise in global oil and gas prices as well as Looney’s shock run in 2023.
Looney was sacked and denied more than £32 million in pay and share awards after admitting he had failed to fully disclose a series of personal relationships with colleagues to the board.
Auchincloss blamed the company’s “misplaced” optimism for the pace of the energy transition earlier this year and promised shareholders he would “fundamentally reset” BP by cutting billions of dollars in planned renewable energy initiatives and shifting its focus back to conventional oil and gas.
It has been under pressure since feared New York hedge fund Elliott Investment Management took a stake in the company earlier this year. Elliott was pleased with O’Neill’s appointment, according to a source familiar with his thinking quoted by the Financial Times.
Auchincloss will leave the company on Thursday. BP had not publicly announced a search process for his successor before announcing his departure late Wednesday evening.
Manifold said: “Progress has been made in recent years, but greater rigor and diligence is required to make the transformative changes necessary to maximize value for our shareholders.”
O’Neill, who has led Woodside since 2021, previously spent 23 years at ExxonMobil. Under his leadership, Woodside merged with BHP Group’s oil arm to become one of the world’s top 10 independent oil and gas producers, valued at $40bn (£30bn), doubling Woodside’s oil and gas production.
“With its outstanding portfolio of assets, BP has significant potential to rebuild market leadership and increase shareholder value,” O’Neill said.
“This is clearly a high-profile hire and probably one of the changes BP shareholders are looking for,” said Dan Pickering, chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners.
Biraj Borkhataria, an analyst at RBC, said: “Given that he has little direct oil and gas experience, it’s a bit surprising to see the president willing to make a major change in such a short period of time. However, given the activist stakes in the stock, this move appears to be more of a ‘when’ rather than an ‘if’.”
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Consolidation is the talk of the town as the sector faces pressure, but BP is often seen as the prey rather than the hunter.
“Rival Shell has steered clear of takeover speculation, but there are other potential suitors. O’Neill could be in a fight to ensure BP is not sold for a song and for a seat at the table if he joins forces with a rival.”
Earlier this year O’Neill suggested at a gas industry conference that young people who take an ideological stance against fossil fuels are hypocrites for ordering cheap consumer goods online “without any recognition of the energy and carbon impact of their actions”.
Liz Westcott, who runs Woodside’s Australian operations, has taken over as acting managing director.
BP shares rose 1% in early trading Thursday morning.
