London (AFP) – British energy giant BP, which this year shelved targets on reducing carbon emissions, has appointed industry veteran Meg O’Neill to be chief executive from April, replacing Murray Auchincloss who stepped down Thursday. BP said in a statement that company executive Carol Howle will serve as interim CEO until O’Neill moves over from her position as chief executive of Australian group Woodside Energy. O’Neill becomes the first woman chief executive of an oil major, a term used to describe the likes of Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and TotalEnergies. The American national, who spent 23 years working for ExxonMobil, is also the first external candidate to be appointed CEO of BP in the group’s 116-year history. O’Neill has led Woodside Energy since April 2021.
The unexpected boardroom shakeup comes with BP pivoting back to its more profitable oil and gas business as it slashes clean energy investment. BP chair Albert Manifold said O’Neill’s “proven track record of driving transformation, growth, and disciplined capital allocation makes her the right leader.” He added that the change helps to “accelerate” BP’s “strategic vision to become a simpler, leaner, and more profitable company.”
“Progress has been made in recent years, but increased rigor and diligence are required to make the necessary transformative changes to maximize value for our shareholders,” said Manifold, in his role since October. O’Neill said “BP has significant potential to re-establish market leadership,” adding she planned to “accelerate performance, advance safety, drive innovation and sustainability and do our part to meet the world’s energy needs.”
BP’s latest earnings update in November revealed a sharp rise in net profit for the third quarter as higher oil output and cost-cutting helped offset a drop in crude prices. Profit after tax jumped to $1.16 billion for the July-September period, compared with $206 million one year earlier. “After more than three decades with BP, now is the right time to hand the reins to a new leader,” Auchincloss said in Thursday’s statement. “When Albert became chair, I expressed my openness to step down were an appropriate leader identified who could accelerate delivery of BP’s strategy,” he added.
Despite energy prices weakening this year on concerns that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will hurt economic growth—and more recently on talk of a possible end to Russia’s war in Ukraine adding to oversupply concerns—BP and rivals continue to focus on squeezing as much revenue out of fossil fuels as possible. “With the sector facing pressure, consolidation is the talk of the town, but BP is most frequently seen as prey rather than the hunter,” Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted Thursday. “Rival Shell has distanced itself from takeover speculation, but there are other potential suitors.” BP’s share price edged up 0.1 percent in early London trading following the latest announcement, matching the gain on the capital’s top-tier FTSE 100 index.
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