BP Plc said it has ousted Chairman Albert Manifold over “serious concerns” tied to what the company described as governance oversight and conduct, an abrupt decision that came less than a year after Manifold was appointed to lead the company. The oil giant said its board moved decisively after learning of issues it deemed unacceptable.
In a statement, Amanda Blanc, BP’s senior independent director, said the board had been surprised and disappointed to learn of the governance, oversight and conduct concerns. Blanc also said in the same statement that Manifold had helped “bring a welcome focus and pace” to BP’s transformation, but the board still took action.
BP said the board was unanimous in the decision and named Ian Tyler as interim chair, effective immediately. BP did not elaborate on the reasons for Manifold’s sudden departure, and it said it has begun a search for a new chairman.
Manifold had been appointed late last year and became chair in October, after serving as the top executive at Dublin-based CRH for 10 years. BP positioned Manifold as an industry outsider when it brought him in to redirect the company, following a period of leadership changes and strategic shifts.
The board’s action comes amid continuing scrutiny of BP’s governance and its approach to energy transition issues. Earlier this spring, shareholders defeated company resolutions that would have allowed BP to reduce climate reporting requirements and move annual meetings fully online.
Manifold’s chairmanship also faced shareholder resistance at that time. The company reported that about 18% of shareholders voted against Manifold’s election as chairman, a level of opposition the report described as high for appointments that are typically rubber-stamped by investors.
Legal & General, one of Britain’s largest insurers and investment companies, said Manifold was responsible for resolutions it said would have harmed shareholders’ insight into how BP addresses financially material long-term risks and creates long-term value tied to the energy transition, as reported by the Times of London on April 23. Glass Lewis, an influential shareholder adviser, urged investors to vote against Manifold’s election, saying BP took “unprecedented action” by refusing to consider a resolution from a group of climate activists and pension funds seeking to force the board to create an alternative strategy should demand for fossil fuels decline, according to the Times report.
BP’s governance turmoil is not limited to the chair position. CEO Bernard Looney resigned in late 2023 after BP determined he had misled the company about past relationships with colleagues, and CEO Murray Auchincloss stepped down in December. BP named Meg O’Neill as Auchincloss’s successor two months after Manifold became chair.
The leadership changes also reflect the company’s shifting strategy. After BP adopted a new focus on renewable energy in 2020, it had been seeking to “return to its roots” by 2025, according to the report. CEO Murray Auchincloss said last year that optimism over opportunities in renewable energy was misplaced, saying BP had moved “too far and too fast.”
BP said it has been navigating falling demand in recent years, and it reported that 2025 earnings fell 16% from a year earlier to $7.49 billion, with Brent crude prices falling 16.9%. The company’s preferred earnings measure, underlying replacement cost profit, adjusts for one-time items and fluctuations in the market value of inventories.
In the market reaction to Manifold’s removal, BP’s shares slid 5% on the NYSE. The report also noted that media reports last year had suggested British rival Shell was in talks to buy BP, a story Shell denied at the time.