BP chief executive Murray Auchincloss has stepped down with immediate effect after less than two years in the role, following pressure from US hedge fund Elliott Management, according to a report by This is Money. The FTSE 100 energy group confirmed on Thursday that Auchincloss would also leave the board.
Elliott has urged BP to improve financial performance, reduce costs, strengthen shareholder returns and lower debt. Auchincloss’s departure follows a period of strategic uncertainty at the group after the exits of former chief executive Bernard Looney and former chair Helge Lund, who oversaw BP’s push into renewable energy, a strategy the company has since begun to recalibrate.
Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill will succeed Auchincloss, becoming the company’s first female chief executive when she joins in April. Carol Howle, BP’s executive vice president of supply, trading, and shipping, will serve as interim chief executive. Auchincloss will remain in an advisory role until December next year.
