Former Centrica chief Laidlaw in frame to chair embattled BP

Sam Laidlaw, the erstwhile brag of Centrica, is among the candidates being considered arsenic the adjacent president of BP, Britain’s besieged lipid and state exploration giant.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Laidlaw is being considered by BP committee members arsenic a imaginable successor to Helge Lund, who announced successful April that helium would measurement down.

BP's seat hunt comes with the £62bn lipid large successful a authorities of crisis, arsenic manufacture predators ellipse and the gait of its strategical translation being interrogated by shareholders.

Elliott Management, the activistic investor, snapped up a multibillion lb involvement successful BP earlier this twelvemonth and is pushing its main executive, Murray Auchincloss, to accelerate spending cuts and ditch a drawstring of renewable vigor commitments.

Mr Lund's departure volition travel aft astir a 4th of BP's shareholders opposed his re-election astatine its yearly gathering successful April - an unusually ample protestation fixed that his volition to measurement down had already been announced.

BP's elder autarkic manager - the Aviva main enforcement Amanda Blanc - is said to beryllium moving "at pace" to implicit the recruitment process.

A fig of salient candidates are understood to beryllium successful discussions with headhunters advising BP connected the search.

Mr Laidlaw would beryllium a logical prime to instrumentality the role, having transformed Centrica, the proprietor of British Gas, during his tenure, which ended successful 2014.

Since then, helium has had a agelong stint - which precocious concluded - connected the committee of miner Rio Tinto, which has been fending disconnected activistic calls to wantonness its London listing.

He besides established, and past sold, Neptune Energy, an lipid institution which was acquired by Italy's Eni for astir £4bn successful 2023.

Last December, Mr Laidlaw was appointed president of AWE, the government-owned assemblage which oversees Britain's atomic weapons capability.

He besides has beardown household connections to BP, with his father, Christopher Laidlaw, having served arsenic its lawman president during a agelong concern career.

One idiosyncratic adjacent to BP said the younger Mr Laidlaw had been approached astir chairing the institution during its erstwhile recruitment process but had ruled himself retired due to the fact that of his Neptune Energy role.

The presumption of his engagement with BP's hunt was unclear connected Saturday.

Another idiosyncratic said to person been approached is Ken MacKenzie, who precocious retired arsenic president of the mining elephantine BHP.

Mr MacKenzie headed BHP during a play erstwhile Elliott held a involvement successful the company, and is said to person a bully moving narration with the investor.

Shares successful BP person continued their downward trajectory implicit the past year, having fallen by astir a 5th during that period.

The company's valuation slump is reported to person drawn renewed involvement successful a imaginable takeover bid, with rivals Shell and ExxonMobil among those said to person "run the numbers" successful caller months.

Reports of specified involvement person not elicited immoderate ceremonial response, suggesting that immoderate woody is conceptual astatine this stage.

BP is racing to merchantability assets including Castrol, its lubricants division, which could bid a terms of astir $8bn.

This weekend, BP declined to comment, portion Mr Laidlaw could not beryllium reached for comment.