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Chairman move cements BP CEO O'Neill's control
Ian Tyler named chairman, ending a period of boardroom drama
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Meg O'Neill has been reshaping the company since she took over as CEO in April. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways:
- BP named Ian Tyler chairman after his interim tenure, reinforcing CEO Meg O’Neill’s leadership following months of boardroom upheaval.
- The appointment signaled stability as O’Neill restructures BP, while investors await her strategy and balance sheet plans after activist pressure.
- BP said Amanda Blanc will leave the board before the 2027 AGM and step down after a successor is appointed.
BP Plc named Ian Tyler chairman following an interim stint in the role, ending a period of boardroom drama and allowing CEO Meg O’Neill to continue reshaping the company.
The move cements O’Neill’s control of the London-based oil major after she joined the company in April as Big Oil’s first female CEO. BP’s first outsider hired for the top job has moved quickly to reorganize the company, selling low-returning assets and streamlining the corporate structure.
Tyler, who was previously chair of Cairn Energy Plc, has a reputation for being collegiate, a contrast with the tensions that contributed to the ouster of his predecessor Albert Manifold in May. He is currently chairman of Grafton Group Plc, is a senior independent director of Anglo American Plc, and joined BP’s board in 2025.
“The appointment of the sitting interim chair signals a deliberate choice for stability after a turbulent 18 months at board level,” Lydia Rainforth, an analyst at Barclays Plc, said in a note.
The new CEO has benefited from the tailwind provided by the Iran war, which has driven up oil and gas prices. That’s been particularly favorable for companies with robust refining and trading operations such as BP.
O’Neill has also said that it would be “prudent” for BP to stop thinking about itself as a supermajor, but investors are still waiting for the CEO to announce her strategy.
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BP named Ian Tyler chairman following an interim stint in the role. (BP)
So far, O’Neill has acknowledged the need for improvement and laid out broad priorities, without providing fresh targets related to the balance sheet, or oil and gas production. BP still uses the strategic targets announced by O’Neill’s predecessor, who was removed by Manifold. The company has not indicated if or when O’Neill will announce her strategy.
Investors have also been closely watching BP’s balance sheet repair, hoping it will put the company on a path to resuming share repurchases that were suspended earlier this year in favor of paying down debt.
The company last year came under pressure from activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management to focus on its legacy oil and gas business and pivot away from low-returning ventures. O’Neill, a fossil-fuel enthusiast, was brought in with a clear mandate to do just that.
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Less than two months into her job, O’Neill and the board ousted Manifold over serious concerns related to “governance standards, oversight and conduct,” without elaborating.
Manifold was fired just eight months into the role after he was brought in to turn around the struggling oil major. Manifold said he was let go from BP without explanation.
Senior independent director Amanda Blanc, who led the search for both Tyler and Manifold, will step down from the board, BP said in a statement on Sept. 2.
Blanc, who turned around Aviva Plc after taking over as CEO in 2020, has informed BP’s board that she won’t stand for re-election at the 2027 AGM. She will step down once a successor has been appointed as senior independent director.
Calm presence
When Tyler served on the board of BAE Systems Plc for almost a decade from 2013, he helped chairman, Sir Roger Carr, rebuild the firm’s reputation and make management changes.
“It’s not an exact parallel with BP, but given where BP has come from in recent times,” Tyler’s experience at BAE and elsewhere has shown him to be “very able, very calm,” Carr told Bloomberg News in an interview. “He’s thoughtful, he’s collegiate and therefore he can bring people together.”
Company secretary Ben Mathews to leave
The company also said company secretary Ben Mathews will leave the oil major at year-end following an extended personal leave that coincided with the removal of Manifold.
Mathews has moved into a special adviser role as the company seeks his replacement, BP said on Sept. 2. Going forward, the company secretary will report to the general counsel instead of to the board chair.
“We thank Ben for his leadership, partnership and contribution to BP,” the company said in a statement.
