BP Board Chair Helge Lund announced that he plans to step down from his role “in due course,” according to an announcement from BP earlier this month.
The company has begun the process of finding a successor, led by Senior Independent Director Dame Amanda Blanc.
BP’s next chairperson, once selected, will work with Helge during a transition period, after which Helge will leave the board. While no solid timeline was given, BP expects the new board chair will be in place sometime next year.
“Having fundamentally reset our strategy, bp’s focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value,” said Helge. “Now is the right time to start the process to find my successor and enable an orderly and seamless handover.”
Helge joined the board in 2018 and became chair at the start of 2019, according to his bio on BP’s website. He has also served as chair for pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
The BP chair transition comes amid many changes for the energy and retail giant. The company announced it was laying off about 5% of its global workforce in January, then rolled out a “reset strategy” at the end of February. The reset includes cutting expenses and shifting its focus from renewable energy back to oil production.
While BP’s board looks for its new leader, the company’s “focus will remain on overseeing management’s delivery of the new strategy and this will continue to be their key priority under the new Chair,” according to the announcement.
