By Joshua Kirby
A new set of BP shareholders has thrown its weight behind a move asking the energy major to offer more disclosure on increased investment in oil-and-gas production, which marked a shift away from a previous renewables-focused strategy.
The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, a group representing U.K. pension funds, said Thursday that it was joining other investors in supporting a resolution to be voted on at the British company's shareholder meeting later this month.
The resolution calls on BP to demonstrate that higher spending on fossil-fuel production can deliver value for shareholders, and was filed earlier this year by U.K. and European pension funds along with activist investor Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, or ACCR.
Earlier this week, shareholder Legal & General said it would support the resolution. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis said it recommended voting for the resolution, which it said "could provide decision-useful information for shareholders."
In the original resolution, the shareholders called on BP to take a tighter approach to capital expenditure and to offer disclosure that showed how investment decisions promoted disciplined allocation of capital.
In response, BP said that following engagement with its largest investors, it is "fully focused on building a simpler, stronger and more valuable BP."
"That's why we are making these recommendations, to provide transparent, standardized disclosures that support clear comparisons across companies," the company said.
BP Chair Albert Manifold said the board recommended shareholders vote against the resolution. The extra disclosure would duplicate existing reporting by the company, Manifold wrote in a statement on the company website.
"It would pull the company in the opposite direction to where we want and need to go, which is towards simpler, standardized and comparable reporting," he said.
"It also cuts across the board's responsibility to decide how to address disclosure for all shareholders."
In a strategic reset last year, BP moved to funnel greater investment into its traditional oil-and-gas business. That continued a trend away from focusing on developing renewable sources of energy, a strategy that had hurt earnings as BP's green transition stumbled. BP this year said it would write down the value of its gas and low-carbon energy division by up to $5 billion.
LAPFF Chair Doug McMurdo said Thursday that BP still needs to show that its step-up in oil-and-gas investment is disciplined. Greater investment in oil-and-gas also leaves the company vulnerable to falling behind in the transition to greener energy sources, he said.
"At a time when the physical repercussions of failing to address planetary heating hit home, expanding high‑cost fossil fuel investment without clear evidence of discipline or competitiveness is a material risk to long‑term savers," McMurdo said.
Shares held by the LAPFF funds represent around 1.34% of BP's share capital, according to the group, making up a stake worth around 1.2 billion pounds ($1.61 billion) at BP's current market capitalization. Shareholders who initially backed the resolution hold around 0.42% of the company's shares, according to ACCR.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 09, 2026 08:05 ET (12:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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