BP turned back to oil. Now the price of crude has collapsed

At its AGM this week, the company will face not only the activist investor at its heels, but a changing economy, writes Jillian Ambrose

- Jillian Ambrose

After Donald Trump's "liberation day" on Wednesday last week, BP lost almost a quarter of its market value in a share price rout even deeper than the oil giant endured in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The collapse in global oil prices in the wake of the US president's tariff blitz may have wiped billions from its market value but Trump isn't BP's only problem.

The oil company will face shareholders this week for the first time since it bowed to investor pressure to abandon its green energy ambitions in favour of a return to fossil fuels, and its chair, Helge Lund, agreed to step down from the board.

The twin retreats were considered the only defence against the advance of an aggressive activist investor fund that could spell the breakup of the 115-year-old company, which has been haemorrhaging value for years.

Elliott Asset Management, a feared New York hedge fund notorious for shaking up laggard companies, amassed a substantial stake in BP earlier this year. It has reportedly been in talks with key investors over the future of BP after its ill-fated plan to become a green energy company.