BP announces major shakeup amid global oil price surge

BP p.l.c (BP) just did the one thing oil investors didn’t want to see right now.

The British supermajor unanimously removed Chair Albert Manifold on Tuesday, May 26, less than eight months into the job, citing “serious concerns” about governance standards, oversight, and conduct.

Shares dropped as much as 9% in London before paring losses to about 4%, CNBC reports.

The timing could not be worse.

Brent crude is trading above $110 a barrel. BP just posted its strongest quarterly profit since 2022. And the company’s pivot back to oil and gas finally looked like it was paying off.

Now investors get a fresh leadership crisis instead.

BP’s board fired Chair Albert Manifold just eight months into the job, sending shares down as much as 9%

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What BP said about the chairman’s removal

The board offered no specifics on what Manifold actually did. The statement only described the conduct as “unacceptable.”

Senior Independent Director Amanda Blanc said the board was “surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues.”

Director Ian Tyler, a non-executive on the board since last April, takes over as interim chair while BP searches for a permanent replacement.

Manifold, the former CEO of Irish building materials group CRH, had already survived an investor rebellion at BP’s annual meeting last month. More than 18% of shareholders voted against his re-election after Glass Lewis raised governance concerns, the Irish Times reported.

That makes Tuesday’s firing the second governance shock at BP in under a month, per CNN Business.

How big BP is and what it actually produces

BP is one of the world’s seven oil and gas supermajors, alongside ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), and Shell (SHEL).

The company carries a market cap of roughly $114 billion and trailing 12-month revenue around $195 billion.

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Production sits at 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, spanning upstream drilling, refining, retail fuel stations, aviation fuel, Castrol lubricants, and a trading desk that has quietly become one of the most profitable on Wall Street.

About 400,000 barrels per day come from the Middle East, with 100,000 of those typically exported through the Strait of Hormuz, CEO Meg O’Neill confirmed on the first-quarter earnings call.

However, it is worth noting that the Hormuz exposure has been both a curse and a windfall in 2026.

Why surging oil prices make the timing brutal

The Iran war that broke out in late February sent Brent crude on one of the wildest rides in modern energy markets.

Prices spiked above $130 in late March, settled near $110 in April, and remain elevated as ceasefire talks with the U.S. drag on. JPMorgan warned Brent could “overshoot toward $150” if the Strait stays shut.

This is exactly the environment a focused, well-governed oil major should be cashing in on.

BP did. Q1 profit hit $3.2 billion, up 132% year over year and well ahead of the $2.67 billion analysts expected, according to Reuters.

Related: ConocoPhillips CEO sounds alarm on a growing oil problem

Group underlying replacement cost profit before interest and tax rose to $6.3 billion, from $4.4 billion in the prior quarter, per BP’s SEC filing.

Goldman Sachs sees Brent averaging $90 in the second quarter and $82 in the third, leaving plenty of room for cash generation.

The market should have rewarded that. Instead, investors now have to price in another round of boardroom uncertainty.

The bigger leadership problem investors keep flagging

This is BP’s third chairman and third CEO in under three years.

Morningstar’s Lindsey Stewart called BP “the most volatile boardroom” among the oil supermajors and said the company “should be taking credit for the rewards of its strategic reset,” The Guardian reported.

Instead, governance keeps being the story.

What BP investors are tracking right nowElliott’s 5% stake: Elliott Investment Management holds a 5% stake, per CNBC, and is pushing BP to hit $20 billion in annual free cash flow by 2027.CEO continuity: Meg O’Neill, BP’s first female CEO, was appointed in April, and Tyler said the board remains “very impressed” with her.Strategic reset: BP’s pivot back to oil and gas, away from the renewables push under former Chair Helge Lund, remains the core thesis.Capital plan: BP reaffirmed its 2026 capex budget of $13 billion to $13.5 billion and is funneling excess cash into balance sheet strengthening, per its Q1 release.What this means for BP stock from here

BP shares have rallied this year on the oil price surge, but the stock still trades at a discount to Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil on most multiples.

The bull case rests on three things holding together: O’Neill executing the reset, oil prices staying elevated, and the board stabilizing fast enough to keep Elliott engaged rather than escalating.

If any of those crack, the discount widens.

For investors weighing BP today, the calculus is straightforward. The fundamentals are strong, the dividend looks safe, and Hormuz risk premium is real. But governance turmoil at a company already on its third chair in three years is the kind of friction that can keep multiples compressed even when earnings deliver.

Watch the chair search closely. The name BP picks will signal whether this is a clean break or another lap of the same dysfunction.

Related: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire sells $8B shares of oil giant

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