BP has appointed Albert Manifold as its new chair, paving the way for Helge Lund to depart after six years of steering the UK oil major.
Mr Manifold was chief executive of building materials group CRH for a decade until last December and is a non-executive director at chemicals company LyondellBasell.
He will join BP as chair-elect on September 1 and will take over as chair the following month, accelerating Lund’s timeline for leaving BP. At the start of April, Lund said he planned to step down “most likely during 2026”.
Dame Amanda Blanc, bp’s senior independent director, who led the succession process on behalf of the board, said: “I am delighted that following a rigorous and comprehensive global search we have been able to appoint Albert as our new chair. His impressive track record of shareholder value creation at CRH demonstrates he is the ideal candidate to oversee bp’s next chapter.
“Albert has a relentless focus on performance which is well suited to bp’s needs now and into the future. He transformed and refocused CRH into a global leader by building on its rich heritage to deliver superior growth, cash generation and returns.
“On behalf of the company, I would also like to thank Helge for his leadership and dedicated service to bp throughout the past seven years. His contribution through a period of immense change has been invaluable.”
Albert Manifold said: “It is an honour to be appointed chair of one of the world’s great energy companies, and to have the opportunity to help the company reach its full potential. bp has a vital role to play in addressing the world’s growing energy needs.
"I look forward to working with the bp board, Murray and the leadership team to accelerate delivery of bp’s strategy and drive compelling and sustainable shareholder value creation.”
Over the weekend, BP took a further step back from the renewables sector by selling its US onshore wind business, BP Wind Energy North America, to North American company LS Power.
Wind Energy will be owned and operated as part of LS Power portfolio company Clearlight Energy, with its workforce expected to transfer to the new owner on completion of the deal.
The business has interests in 10 operating onshore wind energy assets across seven US states, operating nine of them. The assets have a combined gross generating capacity of 1.7GW (1.3GW net to BP). All wind assets are grid-connected and are already providing power to over 15 off-takers.
BP said the deal is part of it focusing of “prioritising investment choices whilst delivering value for shareholders”.