Ousted BP chair Albert Manifold rejects ‘lies’ over his conduct

Ousted BP Chairman Albert Manifold has rejected "lies" relating to his conduct, saying he "pushed hard and challenged people directly" during his brief tenure at the British oil supermajor.

BP's board on Tuesday announced the removal of Manifold due to "serious concerns" relating to governance standards, oversight and conduct.

Multiple media outlets reported that Manifold, the former boss of Irish building materials giant CRH, had acted aggressively with different colleagues during his nearly eight months at BP, citing anonymous sources.

In a scathing response issued on Thursday, Manifold said that while he does accept the board's decision to remove him as chairman, he did not accept "that lies can be told about me, nor that anyone should be allowed to hide behind anonymity when commenting on my time at bp."

Manifold said he felt that his priorities of simplifying the business, driving change on costs and strengthening the energy major's balance sheet were not always shared by everyone, but "there is a considerable distance between driving an organisation with urgency and the characterisation of my conduct that is now being put about."

He added that no one at the company had raised any issue about his conduct with him during his time as BP chairman.

Manifold dismissed media reports suggesting he wished to exercise a more executive role at the London-listed company as "nonsense," saying he had only been to BP's head office in London on approximately 13 days in 2026.

He signed off his letter by describing BP as a company "with a great future," saying that CEO Meg O'Neill, Chief Financial Officer Kate Thomson and their executive colleagues were "among the finest people I have worked with."

A BP spokesperson said the company noted the comments of its former chair. "We stand by the statement we have made. We have a duty of care to all our employees, particularly those impacted by his behavior," the spokesperson said in an email to CNBC.

Shares of BP traded 0.4% lower on Thursday morning.

The announcement of Manifold's departure from BP came as a surprise to many analysts and investors earlier in the week, with the company currently in the midst of a fundamental strategic reset. BP is pivoting back to oil and gas and away from renewables.

Former Woodside Energy boss Meg O'Neill is leading this transformation, having taken the reins as CEO at the start of April.

Amanda Blanc, senior independent director at BP, thanked Manifold's contribution to BP's ongoing transformation but said the board had been "surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable."

BP appointed Ian Tyler as interim chair following Manifold's dismissal, noting that a succession process for a permanent chair is set to get underway.

Just last month, Manifold suffered an investor rebellion at BP's annual general meeting. A majority of 81.8% of shareholders voted in favor of electing Manifold following a contentious decision to block a proposal put forward by Dutch activist group Follow This.

Board members require 50% of the vote to be elected, and they typically receive close to 100% support.