Outgoing BP chairman Helge Lund was given a brutal send-off by shareholders today after almost 25% voted against his re-election to the board.
Opposition at the AGM came from conflicting interest groups, with both green activists and those pushing for greater focus on fossil fuels, wanting to see change.
Five protesters were prevented from entering the meeting before the vote, which marked the first time in at least a decade that more than 10% of BP’s shareholders voted against the re-election of the chair.
During the 90-minute session, board members and executives discussed the new strategy, below a sign saying “A reset bp”.
The company announced a significant retreat from renewables in February after some shareholders called for it to double down on fossil fuels to boost its profits and flagging share price.
In 2020 BP announced a plan to cut oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 and invest heavily in renewables. Under its “reset” it wants to increase its production to between 2.3 million and 2.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2030.
This is equivalent to an annual increase in investment of $10bn (£7.6bn) in oil and gas, and a reduction of $5bn a year into biogas, biofuels and electric vehicle charging.
Ahead of today’s meeting, a group of 48 institutional investors criticised the board for not offering a direct vote on the oil major’s revised strategy. Environmental groups criticised the change.
A resolution for Mr Lund’s re-election drew opposition from 24.3% of votes cast. He has already announced he will step down.
He told shareholders that uncertainty around complex geopolitical and trade tensions “has had an impact on BP”.
Mr Lund said the company had “pursued too much while looking to build new low-carbon businesses” but that “lessons have been learned”.
He also argued that BP’s net zero ambition by 2050 is “consistent” with UN climate goals, adding details were laid out “very, very extensively” in its annual report.
Chief executive Murray Auchincloss said: “We were optimistic for a fast transition but that optimism was misplaced.
“A fundamental reset was needed which is exactly what we’ve done,” adding: “We recognise the valuation gap between BP and our peers and we intend to close it.”
He insisted “transition remains important for BP” but the company will be “disciplined” about how it invests in green technologies.
Tarek Bouhouch, from activist group Follow This, accused the company of being in “panic-mode” after ditching its five-year-old strategy in a couple of weeks.
He described the vote against the reappointment of Mr Lund sent a “strong signal”.
Earlier this week the company announced an oil discovery in “the Gulf of America” (Donald Trump’s new name for the Gulf of Mexico), saying underscored its plan to “step up investment in exploration”.
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