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Shares in BP are a little volatile this morning after the surprise departure of the oil major’s chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, last night.
BP was among the top risers on the FTSE 100 share index in early trading, with its shares up 1%.
“In a world of J R Ewing style oil barons, BP has appointed Meg O’Neill as the first external candidate to take BP’s top job. She’s also the first woman to run an oil major. But the Colorado native is already an oil veteran. After 23 years at ExxonMobil, she joined Australia’s Woodside Energy in 2018, where she’s been CEO since 2021. One of her key milestones was the acquisition of BHP Petroleum, giving Woodside full ownership of the Scarborough Gas field and the Northwest Shelf LNG project.
With the sector facing pressure, consolidation is the talk of the town, but BP is most frequently seen as prey rather than the hunter. Rival Shell has distanced itself from takeover speculation, but there are other potential suitors. O’Neill may have a fight on her hands to ensure BP’s not sold for a song, and to keep a seat at the table if it were to join forces with a competitor.
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