BP has ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to “important governance standards, oversight and conduct.”

The departure was abrupt and unexpected, with Albert Manifold having been appointed to the position just last year.

“Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation,” Amanda Blanc, senior independent director, said in a statement. “However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”

BP’s board named Ian Tyler as interim chair on Tuesday, effective immediately.

The company said that it will begin the process of finding a permanent chair.

Manifold became chair in October. He succeeded Helge Lund. Manifold served as CEO of CRH plc from January 2014 until December 2024.

BP, based in London, is a “supermajor,” one of the five largest oil production and exploration companies in the world by when measured by revenue and profit.

The company maintains operations in about 60 countries.

Last year there were media reports that British oil giant Shell was in talks to buy rival BP. Shell denied the reports at the time.

Industry analysts have suggested that BP would be an attractive takeover target after a plan to shift its focus to renewable energy, which was abandoned earlier last year.

In 2025 CEO Murray Auchincloss said that optimism over BP’s shift to renewable energy and away from oil and gas was misplaced, with the company moving “too far and too fast,” so the plan was dropped. Auchincloss stepped down in December, and the company named Meg O’Neill as successor.

BP has also struggled to recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 17 workers and forced the company to pay billions of dollars for environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s 2025 earnings fell 16% from a year earlier to $7.49 billion as the price of Brent crude, a benchmark for international oil prices, dropped 16.9%. The company’s preferred measure of earnings is underlying replacement cost profit, which adjusts for one-time items and fluctuations in the market value of inventories. Net income plunged 86% to $55 million.

Shares tumbled 6% before the opening bell on the NYSE.

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Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.