BP’s new CEO faces shareholder rebellion
BP suffered a significant shareholder revolt at today’s AGM, with more than half of shareholders voting to prevent the firm's attempts to ease climate reporting standards
Only a few weeks into her new role, BP’s new chief executive, Meg O’Neill, presented investors with broadly positive figures, disclosing an underlying profit of $7.5bn in 2025 and operating cash flow of $24.5bn, while cutting more than £22bn in costs, mainly across its clean energy business.
“We meet at a complex moment, when energy has rarely been more central to the world’s concerns,” O’Neill said, stressing the continued importance of oil and gas to the global economy.
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But BP was also confronted with a significant shareholder rebellion, with 52.53% of investors voting against a proposed move to scale back climate disclosures, and 52.88% opposing a shift to virtual-only AGMs, according to preliminary results released at the event in Sunbury-on-Thames.
Since neither resolution achieved the required threshold, BP cannot proceed with moving to virtual-only AGMs or rolling back climate disclosure rules.
Resolution 24
More than a quarter of investors (25.85%) also backed a shareholder resolution requesting disclosures on capital discipline for oil and gas investments. The motion was filed by Nest, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Merseyside Pension Fund, London CIV, Wales Pension Partnership and Pensions for Purpose, together with ACCR.
The resolution received the highest level of support ever recorded for a management-opposed resolution at BP, indicating persistent unease among some investors about the long-term viability of fossil fuel expansion.
Commenting on the results, Nick Mazan, oil and gas strategy lead at ACCR, said: “Investors have seen the numbers — and the numbers don’t lie. It’s encouraging to see over a quarter of shareholders challenging management on upstream spending, given the low returns on investment to date, coupled with the uncertain demand outlook for high-cost oil and gas as the world electrifies at speed. BP and other oil and gas companies would do well to take note of today’s result and reconsider their default to volume growth.”
Under UK listings rules, companies have to formally respond to all resolutions which garner more than 20% of the shareholder vote.
Follow This dispute
The AGM also saw 18% of shareholders vote against the reappointment of BP chair Albert Manifold.
Ahead of the AGM, major investors including Legal & General, Robeco and several UK LGPS funds had voiced concerns about BP’s decision to exclude a shareholder resolution co-filed by Follow This, which requested BP disclose a strategy for creating shareholder value under scenarios of declining oil and gas demand. That move is now facing legal challenges.
BP is facing mounting scrutiny from investors on both sides of the debate, with some shareholders pushing the company to scale back its renewable energy business, while others want it to invest more heavily in clean energy.
Rising oil prices
At the AGM, the firm reported a 37% cut in operational emissions against a 2019 baseline. However, this does not include emissions from customers burning the fuels BP sells — known as Scope 3 emissions — which account for the majority of the company’s carbon footprint.
In the medium term, BP is expected to benefit from the sharp rise in oil prices resulting from the Iran war. Full first-quarter results will be released next week and are expected to show a substantial increase in profits from the company’s oil trading desk, fuelled by higher global crude prices.
However, long-term investors, including pension funds and some asset managers, continue to voice concern about the company’s long-term strategy as the global economy transitions away from fossil fuels. Research by ACCR suggests that BP's attempts to expand fossil fuel extraction had so far been relatively costly. BP’s total shareholder returns (TSR) have underperformed both the market and its peers over three, five, ten and 15 years. The group estimates that among the $22bn of conventional greenfield capex sanctioned over the past six years, the net present value (NPV) under forward prices could be as little as $0.9bn.
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This article was updated on 23.4.2026 to clarify that BP cannot proceed with the move to a virtual only AGM or ease climate disclosures.
