Murray Auchincloss

Murray Auchincloss became CEO of BP plc in January 2024, succeeding Bernard Looney who resigned unexpectedly. Auchincloss, who had served as BP's CFO, immediately signaled a strategic shift: scaling back BP's aggressive renewables investment plans and refocusing on the core oil and gas business that generates the bulk of the company's cash flows. This pivot was partly driven by activist investor pressure (including from Elliott Management) and the recognition that BP's shares had significantly underperformed peers due to concerns about returns from the renewables strategy. BP is one of the world's five "supermajor" oil companies, with operations spanning oil and gas exploration and production, refining and trading, and a massive global network of fuel retail stations. The company also has significant positions in LNG, biofuels, and EV charging infrastructure. BP trades one of the largest energy commodity books globally. Auchincloss's key decisions involve the new balance between fossil fuel investment and energy transition spending, production growth targets, refining margin management, shareholder return strategy (buybacks and dividends), and the medium-term strategic direction for BP's lower-carbon businesses.