Sam Laidlaw, the previous boss of Centrica, is among the many candidates being thought of as the subsequent chairman of BP, Britain’s besieged oil and gasoline exploration large.
BP’s chair search comes with the £62bn oil main in a state of disaster, as trade predators circle and the tempo of its strategic transformation being interrogated by shareholders.
Elliott Administration, the activist investor, snapped up a multibillion pound stake in BP earlier this 12 months and is pushing its chief government, Murray Auchincloss, to speed up spending cuts and ditch a string of renewable power commitments.
Mr Lund’s departure will come after almost 1 / 4 of BP’s shareholders opposed his re-election at its annual assembly in April – an unusually giant protest on condition that his intention to step down had already been introduced.
BP’s senior impartial director – the Aviva chief government Amanda Blanc – is alleged to be shifting “at pace” to finish the recruitment course of.
Quite a few outstanding candidates are understood to be in discussions with headhunters advising BP on the search.
Mr Laidlaw could be a logical option to take the position, having reworked Centrica, the proprietor of British Gasoline, throughout his tenure, which resulted in 2014.
Since then, he has had an extended stint – which just lately concluded – on the board of miner Rio Tinto, which has been heading off activist calls to desert its London itemizing.
He additionally established, after which bought, Neptune Power, an oil firm which was acquired by Italy’s Eni for almost £4bn in 2023.
Final December, Mr Laidlaw was appointed chairman of AWE, the government-owned physique which oversees Britain’s nuclear weapons functionality.
He additionally has sturdy household connections to BP, together with his father, Christopher Laidlaw, having served as its deputy chairman throughout an extended enterprise profession.
One particular person near BP mentioned the youthful Mr Laidlaw had been approached about chairing the corporate throughout its earlier recruitment course of however had dominated himself out due to his Neptune Power position.
The standing of his engagement with BP’s search was unclear on Saturday.
One other particular person mentioned to have been approached is Ken MacKenzie, who just lately retired as chairman of the mining large BHP.
Mr MacKenzie headed BHP throughout a interval when Elliott held a stake within the firm, and is alleged to have a superb working relationship with the investor.
Shares in BP have continued their downward trajectory over the past 12 months, having fallen by almost a fifth throughout that interval.
The corporate’s valuation hunch is reported to have drawn renewed curiosity in a doable takeover bid, with rivals Shell and ExxonMobil amongst these mentioned to have “run the numbers” in latest months.
Studies of such curiosity haven’t elicited any formal response, suggesting that any deal is conceptual at this stage.
BP is racing to promote belongings together with Castrol, its lubricants division, which might command a worth of about $8bn.
This weekend, BP declined to remark, whereas Mr Laidlaw couldn’t be reached for remark.
