BP Ousts Chair Albert Manifold Over Conduct Concerns
Japan Looks to Protect Energy Assets of Japanese Firms in Russia CityAM.com is the online presence of City A.M., London's first free daily business newspaper. Both platforms cover financial and business news as well as sport and… The chair of BP has been fired after less than a year, after “serious concerns” about his conduct were lodged with the energy major’s board.
Albert Manifold was stripped of his roles as chair and director of the London-listed petrochemicals giant having onlytaken the reins last July, with director Amanda Blanc saying the board had unearthed several cases of serious misconduct during his tenure.
The ousting was reportedly on account of his “volcanic” temper towards colleagues, which stretched to verbal abuse and bullying.
“Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation,” Blanc, who is also chief executive at insurance giant Aviva, said in a statement.
“However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.” Shares in the petrochemicals giant fell more than eight per cent on news of his departure, before paring back some losses to trade 4.6 per cent lower two hours after the announcement.
The decision extends a period oftop brass turmoil at BP, which pushed out its previous chair Helge Lund just 10 months ago over concerns about his ability to oversee the energy giant’s re-embrace of petrochemicals.
Its executive team has also undergone several sudden reshuffles.
Former boss Murray Auchincloss had served as chief executive for just under two years before he was ousted for former Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill.
And before that, the company was plunged into disarray when it emerged Auchincloss’s predecessor, Bernard Looney, resigned over a relationship he had with a member of staff that contravened BP’s governance policy.
Will Hares, senior energy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said O’Neill and the next permanent chair “must rekindle investor confidence in the company’s strategy and internal controls”.
“O’Neill, also a recent joiner as of April, remains as chief executive, which suggests no operational impact, though investor concern likely will mount after three chief executives and (soon to be) three chairmen in the past three years,” he added.
According toSky News, BP’s board felt it was left with no choice but to oust Manifold after receiving several complaints about his behaviour being overly aggressive.
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