据知情人士透露，全球石油天然气巨头BP的部分董事会成员赞成拆分该公司，此前数年的小规模分拆未能平息投资者要求提高回报的压力。
Some board members of global oil-and-gas giant BP are in favor of breakup of the company, according to people familiar with the matter, following years of smaller spinoffs that have failed to assuage pressure from investors to boost returns.
知情人士称，目前尚未做出决定，首席执行官梅格·奥尼尔似乎反对这一举措。这些人士表示，这家市值1290亿美元的公司最终可能选择不推进任何计划。董事会尚未正式讨论拆分的可能性。BP发言人表示：“这绝对是假的。”公司定于周五发布财报。
No decision has been made, and CEO Meg O’Neill appears to be opposed to the move, one of the people said. The $129 billion company could ultimately choose not to move forward with any plans, these people said. The full board has not formally discussed the possibility of a breakup, the people said. A BP spokesperson said: “This is categorically false.”The company is slated to report earnings on Friday.
这家英国最大的上市公司之一、伦敦证券交易所的支柱企业——该交易所已失去多家重量级上市公司流向美国——此前已考虑削减零售业务敞口。公司还最近出售或考虑出售多项其他资产，包括美国管道和陆上风电场的股份、北海油气产量，以及其风投组合中的初创企业股份，以追求奥尼尔所谓的“更简单、更强大、更有价值的BP”。
The company — one of Britain’s largest public companies and an anchor of a London Stock Exchange that has lost a series of key listings to the US — has already contemplated slimming down its retail exposure. The company has also recently divested or considered divesting from a number of other assets, including stakes in US pipelines and onshore wind farms, North Sea oil and gas production, and startups in its venture capital portfolio, in pursuit of what O’Neill has called a “simpler, stronger, more valuable BP.”
此举可能极大重塑行业格局，并引发其他石油巨头争夺资产的热潮。如果拆分导致BP在美国重新上市，并加剧富时公司外流英国的趋势，也可能招致英国政府的强烈反弹。
The move could dramatically reshape the industry and prompt a rush for assets among the other oil majors. It could also elicit a backlash from the UK government, if a breakup prompts BP to relist the company in the US and the continued outflow of FTSE companies from Britain.
大股东（包括埃利奥特）的反应也是未知数。这家激进投资者此前曾在其他公司（包括双重上市的必和必拓）推动过重新上市或迁移上市，但它在BP问题上避免了此类推动，转而敦促公司增加自由现金流、剥离可再生能源业务并改善资本回报。
Also unknown: the response of big shareholders, including Elliott. The activist has pushed for relistings or relocations at other companies before, including dual-listed BHP. But it has refrained from such a push at BP, choosing instead to urge the company to boost its free cash flow, divest its renewables business, and improve capital returns.