The chairman of BP is to quit in the wake of the company’s disastrous flirtation with green energy.
The oil giant said on Friday that Helge Lund would step down “in due course”. The announcement comes amid a campaign by activist US hedge fund Elliott for more change at the company, which has already watered down green energy plans previously adopted under Lund.
The Norwegian backed BP’s 2020 decision to cut fossil fuel production 40pc by 2030 and become an “integrated energy company” focused on low carbon energy.
He was also in charge during BP’s 2020 appointment of Bernard Looney, the chief executive who committed the company to its low carbon path but who then left over his undeclared relationships with colleagues.
Mr Lund said on Friday: “Having fundamentally reset our strategy, BP’s focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value. Now is the right time to start the process to find my successor and enable an orderly and seamless handover.”
It follows pressure from Elliott Advisors, which has taken a 5pc stake in BP. The hedge fund told the company it was unhappy with the oil major’s strategy, which it believed lacked urgency and ambition. Elliott was thought to be organising a shareholders vote to force Mr Lund out.
BP announced plans to shift away from oil and gas in 2020, proposing a tenfold increase in green energy investment and a 40pc reduction in fossil fuel production by 2030.
Mr Lund said at the time: “We are confident that the decisions we have taken and the strategy we are setting out today are right for BP, for our shareholders, and for wider society.”
However, BP’s competitors instead bet on rising demand for oil and performed far better. Shares in BP underperformed as a result and the company has since jettisoned much of the 2020 strategy.
At a capital markets day in February, BP abandoned most of its green pledges and committed to indefinite annual increases in fossil fuel production.
Ashley Kelty, an oil and gas analyst at Panmure Liberum, said: “This is of little surprise since activist investor Elliott has build a large position in BP and started agitating for change. [Elliot was] gearing up to try to get a shareholder vote to get Lund forced out so he appears to be jumping before he’s pushed.
“The question is now that they [Elliott] have one scalp, will they keep going? We think they will, and will now turn attention to CEO Murray Auchinloss – his attempt to pivot BP away from green energy look half hearted and we suppose that Elliott will want a new CEO that can undertake a proper reset on strategy.”
