The architect of BP’s failed green energy agenda will leave the embattled oil company within months as it continues its retreat from low-carbon investments amid a sharp fall in profits.
The oil company said Giulia Chierchia, the executive in charge of BP’s sustainability ventures, would step back from her role from 1 June 2025 to “pursue other opportunities” outside the company. She will not be replaced.
BP, which is under pressure from the New York hedge fund Elliott Management, has also promised investors it will tighten its spending, particularly in low-carbon energy, and increase its plans to sell off parts of the business as part of its efforts to improve the company’s flagging market value.
As it announced a 49% drop in profits for the first quarter, BP said it would lower its planned spending for 2025 by $500m (£373m) to about $14.5bn this year.
It also plans to divest between $3bn and $4bn of assets, up from its previous plan to sell off business interests worth $3bn this year. The company aims to sell $20bn in total by the end 2027.
BP’s share price has lagged its industry rivals in recent years after former chief Bernard Looney set the company on course to become a “net zero” energy company under Chierchia – whom he hired months after taking the top job in early 2020.
Looney abruptly left BP in September 2023 after failing to fully disclose his relationships with female colleagues to the board.
BP said Chierchia’s sustainability team would be integrated into other parts of BP’s business to “simplify our structure” and enable “quicker decision-making and clearer accountabilities”.
The company was reportedly under pressure to oust Chierchia, the driving force behind its failed pivot towards green energy by investors including Elliott, which has built up a 5% share in the company.
The hedge fund is notorious for amassing shares in struggling companies in order to agitate for changes which could increase market value, leading to a profit for the fund.
BP’s profits plummeted to $1.4bn in the first quarter of this year from $2.7bn in the same period last year while its net debt has climbed to almost $27bn from $24bn from this time last year.
The BP chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, said: “In February, we announced a fundamental reset of our strategy – to grow the upstream, focus the downstream an invest with discipline in the transition – and we have already made significant progress.”
The company has started up three big oil and gas projects, made six exploration discoveries.
