Meg O’Neill, a firm outsider, will take over as CEO of British energy giant BP in April, succeeding Murray Auchincloss, who resigned on Thursday. BP canceled its carbon emission reduction plans this year.
According to a statement from BP, business executive Carol Howle will take over as CEO until American national O’Neill leaves her role as CEO of Australian company Woodside Energy.
The unanticipated change occurs as BP reduces its investment in clean energy while turning back to its more lucrative oil and gas sector.
BP chair Albert Manifold said O’Neill’s “proven track record of driving transformation, growth, and disciplined capital allocation makes her the right leader”.
He added that the change helps to “accelerate” BP’s “strategic vision to become a simpler, leaner, and more profitable company.
“Progress has been made in recent years, but increased rigor and diligence are required to make the necessary transformative changes to maximise value for our shareholders,” said Manifold, in his role since October.
O’Neill said “BP has significant potential to re-establish market leadership”, adding she planned to “accelerate performance, advance safety, drive innovation and sustainability and do our part to meet the world’s energy needs”.
BP’s latest earnings update in November revealed a sharp rise in net profit for the third quarter as higher oil output and cost-cutting helped offset a drop in crude prices.
Profit after tax jumped to $1.16 billion for the July-September period, compared with $206 million one year earlier.
Despite energy prices weakening this year on concerns that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will hurt economic growth — and more recently on talk of a possible end to Russia’s war in Ukraine adding to oversupply concerns — BP and rivals continue to focus on squeezing as much revenue out of fossil fuels as possible.
