BP Faces Dual Challenges as Share Price Holds Steady

Despite trading near its 52-week high, British oil major BP is navigating significant pressure from two distinct fronts. While a favorable oil price environment provides support, the company is simultaneously contending with a deteriorating labor dispute at a key U.S. refinery and mounting legal pressure from climate-focused shareholders ahead of its annual meeting.

Shareholder Resolution Sparks Legal Threat

A coalition of investors, managing combined assets of approximately one trillion euros, has moved to increase scrutiny on BP’s long-term planning. The group, which includes the shareholder activist organization Follow This alongside institutional investors Groupama and the Ethos Foundation, filed a resolution urging the company to disclose its strategy for a future with declining oil and gas demand.

BP declined to include the resolution in its annual general meeting (AGM) materials, citing legal concerns. In response, Follow This has threatened to seek a court injunction to compel the company to distribute the proposal to shareholders. Governance specialists have expressed unease, with Follow This noting it is unaware of any comparable case where a FTSE-100 company has blocked a permissible shareholder resolution. Should BP be found in breach of its duties, it could be forced to convene an extraordinary general meeting. The scheduled AGM is set for April 23.

Labor Tensions Mount at Key Refinery

Separately, BP’s operational stability is under threat from an escalating contractual dispute at its Whiting, Indiana facility. Unionized workers, represented by the United Steelworkers (USW), overwhelmingly rejected what the company had termed its “last, best, and final” offer. BP subsequently presented a revised proposal, which the union has criticized as being even less favorable.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying BP?

The USW accuses BP of seeking to undermine fundamental contract terms after two months of negotiations, pointing to proposed wage reductions, limitations on strike rights, the removal of certain bargaining rights, and the elimination and outsourcing of roughly 100 positions. Operations continue under a series of rolling 24-hour extensions of the expired contract. The Whiting refinery is the largest in the U.S. Midwest, producing gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel for the region and employing about 800 union members. BP has reportedly trained replacement staff from current and former employees to maintain operations in the event of a strike.

Divergent Analyst Views Amid Strong Oil Prices

The company’s share performance remains buoyed by a supportive macroeconomic backdrop. Geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz helped drive Brent crude prices to a brief peak of $119.50 per barrel in early March, with prices hovering around $100 by mid-month. This environment directly supports BP’s near-term financial results but also highlights its cyclical dependence on oil prices—a core concern raised by the Follow This resolution.

Market analysts offer conflicting perspectives on the stock’s trajectory. Goldman Sachs recently raised its price target for BP from 490 to 540 pence, reaffirming a “Buy” rating. Similarly, Berenberg Bank maintains a “Buy” recommendation. In contrast, Bank of America has rated BP as “Underperform” since December 2025, arguing that a potential weakening in oil prices and BP’s ongoing $20 billion asset divestment program could pressure its earnings relative to competitors like Shell and TotalEnergies.