BP meets with socially responsible investors on safety and risk, reviews board governance

Oil major BP is meeting with socially responsible investors in London and New York in a bid to reach out to responsible investors stung by the company’s response to last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The meetings, which come as the company and its partners in the Deepwater Horizon rig face fines of up to $45m, follow on from meetings it held with SRI investors in May.
The London meeting took place last week, while the New York meeting is on Friday, Responsible Investor understands.
According to Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg’s presentation, the company has initiated a review of its board governance and set up a board steering group. This has looked at the “structure, roles, tools and processes around the Board and its Committees”.The company aims to complete the review and publish updated principles early next year.
The meetings feature updates from Mark Bly, Executive Vice President of Safety & Operational Risk and Bernard Looney, Executive Vice President of Developments.
Bly’s presentation refers to a “fundamental refresh of corporate values” to re-emphasize safety. And there are revised performance and reward mechanisms to reinforce that objective.
Looney’s presentation acknowledges that the injury rate of BP’s contactors is 60% higher than for employees – leading to recommendations for “fewer, deeper, and longer” relationships with contractors.
Some New York-based investors have said they are pleased to be getting access to Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg for the first time.