LONDON, March 31, 2026, 12:10 BST
BP has lost the executive overseeing its global EV charging business, the Financial Times reported, as Rolls-Royce showed Martin Thomsen had joined the engineering group in March. The move comes just before Meg O’Neill takes over as BP’s chief executive this week. 1
The departure matters because BP has been pulling back from parts of its low-carbon push, including renewables and EV charging, to put more money into oil and gas projects that promise better returns and faster cash. That shift is being tested in real time: Brent crude was near $115 a barrel on Tuesday and on course for its biggest monthly gain on record after supply shocks tied to the Iran conflict. 2
BP had about 40,000 charging points when it said last year it would cut average annual spending on EV charging to below $500 million and concentrate on Britain, Germany, the United States and China. Reuters reported in March 2025 that Thomsen was picked to replace Richard Bartlett at BP Pulse after Bartlett left the company. 3
Rolls-Royce said Thomsen was appointed its group chief procurement and supply chain officer in March. On its website, the company said he had most recently led BP’s mobility and convenience business in Europe, its global EV charging operations and its bioethanol business in Brazil. 4
BP chose Woodside Energy chief O’Neill as its next CEO in December, making her the first outsider to run the company in more than a century and the first woman to lead a top-five oil major. Maurizio Carulli, global energy analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said the change “likely accelerates BP’s strategy reset,” while JPMorgan analyst Matthew Lofting wrote investors were likely to keep an “open door” to fresh eyes on strategy. 5
In February, BP suspended share buybacks, meaning repurchases of its own stock, took about $4 billion in charges on renewables and biogas assets, and redirected cash toward debt reduction and oil and gas. Net debt fell to $22 billion from $26 billion in the previous quarter. At the time, Reuters reported Shell and Exxon had kept buybacks intact while Equinor cut its own. 2
Executives are already describing a tighter filter for spending. Gordon Birrell, BP’s executive vice president for production and operations, told Reuters last week the company was “very disciplined” about which projects it funds and when it brings them forward. Reuters said BP announced 12 discoveries in 2025, including in Brazil, Egypt and the U.S. Gulf. 6
That posture is being shaped by a highly volatile oil market. Brent, the global oil benchmark, is heading for its biggest monthly rise on record, and Lin Ye, vice president for commodities markets and oil at Rystad Energy, warned a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz would push the market closer to physical shortages. 7
But the reset carries risks. Another change in leadership around EV charging could disrupt a business that still spans thousands of charge points, and climate investors have given BP until April 1 to add a shareholder resolution to the agenda for its annual meeting or face a court challenge. 3
BP has said the proposal is not legally valid. Its annual meeting is set for April 23, leaving O’Neill to inherit not just a strategy reset but an immediate shareholder dispute when she arrives. 8
