BP hires Shell’s Emma Lewis to lead downstream

BP has appointed Emma Lewis to lead its downstream business, bringing in the senior executive from Shell (SHEL) as part of an effort by CEO Meg O’Neill to strengthen the oil major’s refining and fuels operations. Lewis is scheduled to join BP on January 4, 2027, when she will take over responsibility for the group’s downstream activities.

Until Lewis assumes the position, Richard Harding will continue as interim executive vice president of BP’s downstream business. The appointment places a new external leader at the helm of BP’s refining, fuels and related customer-focused operations at the start of 2027.

Lewis joins BP from Shell, where she most recently served as executive vice president, chemicals, leading Shell’s global chemicals business. She took that role after joining Shell in 2012, following about 13 years at ExxonMobil (XOM), giving her extensive experience across major international energy and chemicals companies.

BP has described the move as part of a broader push to bolster its refining and fuels capabilities within a streamlined organisational focus on downstream activities. The transition plan keeps Harding in place to provide continuity in downstream leadership until Lewis is in post.

Lewis’s tenure at Shell included steering the company’s chemicals business through significant change as the group implemented structural improvements. Her responsibilities there extended across global operations and management of key chemical assets and ventures.

Her move to BP comes at a time when Shell is in discussions over the sale of its chemical assets. Shell CEO Wael Sawan has said these assets are of good quality but has also indicated that the company is not their natural owner, underscoring a repositioning of chemicals within Shell’s broader portfolio.

By appointing a leader with deep chemicals and refining-related experience, BP is seeking to reinforce its downstream capabilities in fuels and associated operations. The timing of Lewis’s arrival in early 2027 aligns with efforts to enhance the performance and strategic direction of the downstream business.

The leadership change signals BP’s intention to sharpen focus on its refining and fuels segment under the current management structure, while drawing on expertise gained in another major energy group’s chemicals transformation. The interim arrangement with Harding provides an uninterrupted management bridge up to Lewis’s start date.