BP Removes Chairman Albert Manifold Over ‘Serious Conduct Issues’

BP, the British multinational oil and gas company, has dismissed its chairman, Albert Manifold, after less than a year in the role, citing “serious concerns” about “governance standards, oversight and conduct.”

The surprise ouster marks the latest episode of leadership turmoil at the British oil giant, which has seen several CEOs depart abruptly under controversial circumstances.

The company did not provide further details about the alleged failings related to governance and conduct.

“Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation. However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance, oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action,” Amanda Blanc, Senior Independent Director at BP, said in a statement on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

Manifold, the former CEO of Irish building materials company CRH, succeeded Helge Lund as BP chairman on October 1.

Reacting to his dismissal, Manifold pushed back against the company’s decision in a statement.

“I dispute entirely the characterisation of my conduct and I will not allow a false narrative to go unchallenged,” Manifold said, as reported by CNN.

“I was removed without warning and without explanation. During my time as chairman, I worked to drive genuine change at BP — cutting costs, challenging excess, and holding the organisation to higher standards.”

BP has appointed Ian Tyler as interim chairman “with immediate effect” while it searches for a permanent replacement, the company said.

Tyler said BP was “moving at pace” to deliver on “the strategic direction we have laid out” and added that he had been “very impressed” with Meg O’Neill, who became the company’s first female CEO in April.

“Under her leadership, we are building a simpler, stronger and more valuable BP,” he added.

O’Neill, the former chief executive of Australia’s Woodside Energy, is BP’s third CEO since 2020 and the first external candidate ever to lead the company.

BP has faced several difficult years marked by strategic reversals and leadership instability. In 2023, the company backtracked on ambitious plans announced less than three years earlier to cut oil and gas production and transform into a green energy company under then-CEO Bernard Looney.

Looney resigned later that year after admitting he had failed to properly disclose past relationships with colleagues.

He was succeeded by the company’s chief financial officer, Murray Auchincloss, who remained in the role for less than two years before O’Neill was announced as his successor.

“The announcement of Albert Manifold’s departure is certainly a surprise, although BP has had more than its fair share of senior personnel leaving the company abruptly over the past 20 years,” Maurizio Carulli, global energy analyst at asset manager Quilter Cheviot, wrote in a note.

Alongside Looney and Auchincloss, Carulli also cited Lord John Browne, who stepped down in 2007 after it emerged that he had lied to a UK court, and Tony Hayward, who resigned in 2010 following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite its struggles, BP appears to be on a stronger footing this year.

The company’s share price has risen roughly 20% year-to-date, while the Iran war has delivered a profit windfall.

BP’s profits more than doubled in the first three months of the year as the company’s oil traders capitalised on sharp swings in oil prices triggered by the conflict.