BP removed its chairman with no warning on Tuesday, sending shares of the British energy giant down as much as 9% before they partially recovered. The board voted unanimously to oust Albert Manifold as chair and as a director, effective immediately, citing what it called serious concerns about governance standards, oversight, and conduct.
According to CNBC, the company did not elaborate on the specific nature of those concerns in its public statement. CNBC also said it reached out to the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office and was awaiting a response, while the Metropolitan Police Service declined to comment.
Senior independent director Amanda Blanc issued a statement on behalf of the board. "Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to bp's transformation," Blanc said. "However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action."
Manifold had only taken the chair role in October, meaning he was in the position for roughly seven months before being removed. His tenure was already showing signs of trouble before Tuesday's announcement. At BP's annual general meeting last month, only 81.8% of shareholders voted in favor of keeping him, a figure that is low by board standards. Members typically receive close to 100% support, and some activist investors had said even a 5% vote against a chair would constitute a serious rebuke.
The board named Ian Tyler as interim chair with immediate effect. A formal succession process for a permanent replacement is set to begin. Tyler said in a statement that the board remains committed to its current strategy. "The Board and leadership team have deep conviction in the strategic direction we have laid out, and the company is moving at pace to deliver it," he said. "bp is building a track record of strong underlying operational performance and a tight focus on financial discipline - all in the pursuit of growing shareholder value and returns," he added.
The dismissal adds to a long list of abrupt senior departures at BP over the past two decades. Maurizio Carulli, global energy analyst at Quilter Cheviot, placed the departure in that context. "The announcement of Albert Manifold's departure is certainly a surprise, albeit BP has had more than its fair share of senior personnel leaving the company abruptly over the past 20 years, including former CEOs Lord Browne, Tony Hayward, Bernard Looney and Murray Auchinchloss, albeit all with very different individual circumstances leading to their departure," Carulli said.
The removal comes at a moment of significant transition for BP. The company has been shifting its strategy back toward oil and gas and away from renewables. Meg O'Neill, the former boss of Woodside Energy, took over as CEO on April 1, replacing Murray Auchincloss, who had held the role for less than two years. Manifold himself was a former chief executive of Irish building materials company CRH before joining BP's board.
BP shares were last trading down around 5% on the day after initially falling further on the news.
