BP’s board has appointed its first female chief executive in a bid to revive the oil company’s fortunes, after ousting Murray Auchincloss less than two years into his role.
In an unexpected leadership shake-up Auchincloss will step down as chief executive with immediate effect, but remain in an advisory role until the end of next year.
He will be succeeded by Meg O’Neill, a former ExxonMobil executive and the head of Australian oil company Woodside Energy. Carol Howle, BP’s head of trading, will run the company until O’Neill takes up the top job in April.
The incoming oil boss will be BP’s first female chief executive, and the first woman to head any of the world’s top five oil companies. Her appointment also marks the first time that BP has made an external hire to the top job at the company.
The surprise appointment of BP’s third chief executive in five years emerged just weeks after BP appointed Albert Manifold to chair the board. Manifold replaced Helge Lund who presided over the oil company’s failed attempt to adopt a green energy agenda.
The shake-up will be taken as a sign that the British oil firm is seeking a renewed push to improve its business, with its shares and earnings lagging behind competitors like ExxonMobil and Shell for years as it pursued green energy projects at the expense of growing its oil and gas production.
BP’s green strategy was set by its previous boss, Bernard Looney, who was appointed by Lund in 2020 to transform the business into an integrated energy company. However, the transition was undermined by a rise in global oil and gas prices, as well as the shock departure of Looney in 2023.
Auchincloss blamed the company’s “misplaced” optimism over the speed of the energy transition earlier this year and promised shareholders that he would “fundamentally reset” BP by slashing billions in planned renewable energy initiatives and shifting its focus back to traditional oil and gas.
Manifold, said: “Progress has been made in recent years, but increased rigour and diligence are required to make the necessary transformative changes to maximise value for our shareholders.”
O’Neill, who has headed Woodside since 2021, previously spent 23 years at ExxonMobil. Under her leadership, Woodside merged with BHP Group’s petroleum arm to create a top 10 global independent oil and gas producer valued at $40bn (£30bn) and doubled Woodside’s oil and gas production.
“With an extraordinary portfolio of assets, BP has significant potential to re-establish market leadership and grow shareholder value,” said O’Neill.
Auchincloss will depart the company on Thursday. BP had not publicly announced a search process for his successor before it flagged his departure late on Wednesday evening.
“This is clearly a high-profile hire, and probably some of the change that BP shareholders have been looking for,” said Dan Pickering, chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners.
