LONDON, April 22, 2026, 13:12 (BST)
- BP Chair Albert Manifold has the backing of at least three major shareholders ahead of Thursday’s annual meeting, Bloomberg reported, as cited by the Irish Times.
- Legal & General, Glass Lewis, and the UK pension fund forum have pushed back on elements of BP’s board approach to climate disclosure and governance.
- BP shareholders are set to vote ahead of the oil major’s April 28 first-quarter earnings, with the company already pointing to robust oil trading and higher net debt.
At least three major BP PLC shareholders are backing Chair Albert Manifold going into Thursday’s annual meeting, giving the board a lift ahead of a closely watched vote on investor confidence.
Timing is front and center here. This marks Manifold’s first AGM as chair, alongside Chief Executive Meg O’Neill’s debut in the role. Against the backdrop: BP grappling with patchy performance, leadership shakeups, and Elliott Management’s activist heat. BP has set the meeting for 11 a.m. BST on April 23 at its International Centre for Business and Technology.
Results land in a week. BP earlier flagged an “exceptional” first-quarter oil trading performance, though net debt is expected to climb—up to $25 billion to $27 billion from $22.2 billion at 2025’s close. The driver: a working-capital build, with more cash locked in operations amid price moves. Reuters
Norway’s $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund is backing Manifold and the rest of the board’s resolutions. According to Bloomberg, as relayed by the Irish Times, two more top shareholders are also lining up behind him, sources familiar with the plans said.
The backing isn’t enough to blunt the impact of the meeting. Legal & General Group plans to vote against Manifold, and Glass Lewis has also told investors to oppose after BP blocked a climate proposal from Follow This. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, representing roughly 1.34% of BP’s shares, has called for a vote against the chair and several board resolutions.
BP’s board, after consulting legal advisers, determined the Follow This proposal didn’t make the cut—it’s invalid and, even if shareholders backed it, wouldn’t have any effect. The company, according to a BP spokesperson, still has its sights on shaping a “simpler, stronger and more valuable BP.” Plus, the upcoming reporting tweaks are supposed to hand investors more standardized numbers to line up BP against its peers. The Irish Times
The fight among investors centers on who shapes the narrative around BP’s strategy shift. ACCR, an activist shareholder group, is pressing for BP to spell out more details on capital allocation—basically, its framework for spending as it pivots resources back into oil and gas. Brynn O’Brien, who shares the chief executive role at ACCR, called NBIM’s backing of management “out of step” with investors focused on long-term value. Reuters
O’Neill wasted no time. She told staff BP is shifting back to a more straightforward upstream-downstream split—upstream for oil and gas output, downstream for refining, fuels, retail. That shift rolls back part of the reorganization started during BP’s previous low-carbon strategy. O’Neill described the new direction as aiming for a “simpler, stronger, more valuable BP.” The Guardian
Shell’s move throws BP’s approach into sharper relief. Shell is letting shareholders vote on a Follow This resolution at its annual meeting—even as it urges them to vote it down. BP, by contrast, tossed out the proposal, labeling it invalid and keeping it off the ballot.
The current market environment is working in favor of Manifold and O’Neill. BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies’ trading arms pulled in at least $2.5 billion during the first quarter, capitalizing on energy price swings linked to the Iran war, according to Reuters. Exxon, by contrast, didn’t highlight similar trading profits. David Hewitt, senior consultant at Hewitt Energy Perspectives, pointed out that BP doesn’t usually exaggerate, so hearing the company call results “exceptional” stands out. Reuters
UBS analyst Joshua Stone sees O’Neill stepping in at a “critical turning point” for BP. Stone noted that higher-for-longer oil prices are a positive for the shares. Still, he flagged there’s “still work” ahead to win back investor confidence. The Irish Times
But the risk for BP stands out. Should Manifold win another term, a hefty protest vote might still fuel ongoing worries about governance and make it tougher for the board to shelve older climate-reporting resolutions. BP needs a 75% majority to ditch those measures—originally passed by shareholders in 2019 and 2025, according to Reuters.
Two markers land soon for investors: BP’s AGM vote hits Thursday, followed by first-quarter results on April 28. The shareholder vote measures just how much tolerance remains. Then it’s down to the numbers—did BP’s trading desk capture enough from choppy markets to counter bigger debt and ongoing strategy disputes?
