30th October 2026
BP’s third-quarter results strengthen its financial position and sharpen the question of how the extra cash will be spent. Investors who backed Resolution 24 are still waiting for evidence that BP’s upstream spending, including exploration, will earn an adequate return.
BP p.l.c. has not yet given shareholders the evidence they asked for on whether its new upstream oil and gas spending will create value, according to ACCR. BP published its formal response to the Resolution 24 vote result on 22 October 2026, six months after 25.86% of voting shareholders supported the resolution at BP’s annual general meeting this year, against the board’s recommendation.
Resolution 24 was co-filed by ACCR, Nest, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, London CIV, Wales Pension Partnership, Merseyside Pension Fund, and PUBLICA. It asks BP to:
Under Section 1, Provision 4 of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, when 20% or more of votes are cast against a board recommendation, the company should consult shareholders and publish an update on that consultation within six months. BP’s formal response came a day before that deadline.
The Iran war and BP’s resulting windfall profits have brought into focus the question of how the company can most efficiently allocate capital.
In ACCR’s assessment, BP has not yet provided sufficient disclosure against any of the resolution's requests, despite noting that shareholders had expressed 'clear expectations for bp to demonstrate greater discipline and accountability in executing the strategy’.
ACCR’s 2025 research, When Growth No Longer Pays, found that each dollar spent on conventional oil and gas exploration since 2000 has destroyed 71 cents in value on average across the industry. For BP, 80% of 2025 production came from discoveries made in the 20th century.
BP today reported operating cash flow of US$14.8 billion for the third quarter of 2026. At its Capital Markets Day in 2025, BP set out plans to invest $10.5bn in upstream per year, or 75% of total capex.
Nick Mazan, Oil & Gas Strategy Lead, ACCR, said:
"BP has acknowledged investors’ concerns but hasn’t answered them. Shareholders asked for evidence that new upstream spending will earn its keep, and they’re still waiting. With BP reporting another quarter of strong cash flow, that question only gets sharper. 15 December is BP's chance to show the numbers and demonstrate that it can maintain discipline through the cycle, as a first step in rebuilding trust with investors."
BP will hold a strategy day on 15 December 2026. ACCR expects BP to use it to address the three requests of Resolution 24.
Background
On 5 October 2026, ACCR published its expectations for BP’s response. These included disclosure against each of the resolution’s three requests, rather than a restatement of existing disclosures: https://www.accr.org.au/insights/investor-bulletin-what-investors-should-expect-from-bps-response-to-resolution-24-on-capital-discipline/
BP’s formal response to Resolution 24, published 22 October 2026: https://www.bp.com/en-US/investors/shareholder-and-dividend-information/annual-general-meeting/update-on-2026-agm-voting-results
Shareholder resolution to BP p.l.c. on upstream capital expenditure disclosures (Resolution 24): https://www.accr.org.au/posts/shareholder-resolution-to-bp-plc-on-upstream-capital-expenditure-disclosures/
AGM voting results: https://www.bp.com/api/files/6cqieuqhq4no/master/5yw9AcJ3pWrv5yJsCTrny3/bec161362dc6458fef99e1ab6cb6e4d8/bp-agm-poll-results-2026.pdf
ACCR research, When Growth No Longer Pays (2025): https://www.accr.org.au/downloads/accr_whengrowthnolongerpays_101225.pdf
Under the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, where 20% or more of votes are cast against a board recommendation, the company should explain how it will consult shareholders. It should publish an update within six months of the meeting and set out in its next annual report what impact the feedback has had on board decisions.