BP’s chairman Helge Lund is to stand down amid pressure on the oil giant from investors including activist Elliott Management.
The FTSE 100 energy group said that Lund had “informed the board of his intention to step down in due course” and was likely to depart some time next year. The announcement comes a fortnight after it emerged that Elliott, the New York hedge fund, had been discussing potential leadership changes at BP with fellow shareholders.
The 62-year-old Norwegian has chaired BP since 2019, overseeing both its ill-fated strategic push into green energy and its recent about-turn to refocus on fossil fuels. He handled both the appointment of Bernard Looney as chief executive and his subsequent ousting over undisclosed relationships with colleagues.
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News of the departure comes two weeks before BP’s annual general meeting, where it will be braced for a potential investor revolt against Lund. Almost a tenth of investors voted against his re-election two years ago.
It emerged in early February that Elliott had amassed a stake of almost 5 per cent in BP, making it one of the biggest investors in the beleaguered group. Weeks later, Murray Auchincloss, BP chief executive, unveiled a “fundamental reset” of strategy, ditching most green targets and abandoning a goal of cutting fossil fuel production.
While Elliott is yet to speak publicly about its demands, the hedge fund is understood to be pushing for BP to pursue even more radical strategic changes, and in recent weeks has held meetings with several large shareholders to discuss potential leadership changes.
Giacomo Romeo of Jefferies said that Lund’s departure “likely shows the first real impact of Elliott’s involvement”.
“Helge Lund oversaw the selection of Bernard Looney as CEO and the rollout of the previous strategy. The decision to step down should be well received and reinforce BP’s intention to undergo a structural strategic change,” he said.
Analysts had speculated that Elliott would call for Lund’s removal, based on both Elliott’s track record at other companies and Lund’s performance at BP. Last year another activist investor, Bluebell Capital, said his performance was “embarrassing” and called for him to go. “Stepping down voluntarily is probably a better look than the alternative, we think,” Biraj Borkhataria of RBC Capital Markets said.
Lund, who also chairs the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, made his name running the Norwegian oil and gas group Statoil — which later became Equinor — for a decade. He then briefly ran BG Group, making a fortune when it was taken over by Shell.
Soon after taking the BP job he appointed Looney as chief executive and the two men led BP’s high-profile pivot into renewable energy, pledging to slash oil and gas output. The strategy resulted in BP’s shares significantly underperforming against its more oil-focused rivals as it struggled to convince investors that its green investments could deliver returns.
Looney was ousted in 2023 after he was found to have failed to disclose relationships with colleagues. There were questions at the time over whether Lund and the board had conducted sufficient due diligence before hiring Looney, given longstanding rumours of workplace relationships.
Lund also oversaw the appointment of Murray Auchincloss, Looney’s former chief financial officer, as chief executive, and the subsequent strategic pivot back to oil and gas.
Dame Amanda Blanc, BP’s senior independent director, is leading the search for a successor for Lund. Blanc said she was looking for “chair candidates with the credibility and relevant experience to lead the board and continue driving management’s safe execution of the reset strategy”.
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BP said it was intended that the successful candidate would join the board and work with Lund to ensure an orderly transition before he steps down from the board, most likely during 2026.
Lund said: “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.”
Analysts at Panmure Liberum said: “We guess this is a move to appease Elliott, which was gearing up to get Lund removed. The question is, now that they have one scalp, will they keep going? We think they will, and will now turn attention to Murray Auchinloss: his attempt to pivot BP away from green energy looks half-hearted and we suppose that Elliott will want a new CEO that can undertake a proper reset on strategy.”
Borkhataria of RBC said: “Looking ahead, whether a new chair will lead to a wider shake-up, including another change in management or strategy, remains to be seen. For now, BP has its work cut out, and the focus is squarely on its ability to execute on its new strategy.”
BP shares, which have fallen 25 per cent over the past year, closed down 29¾p, or 7.4 per cent, at 370¾p on Friday.
