Castrol Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mandhir Singh will retire at the end of September 2022, British energy major and Castrol parent bp announced.

Singh, whose 32-year career with bp includes more than 20 years with leading global lubricant company Castrol, leaves a significant legacy, as well as a strong platform for Castrol’s future growth.

Castrol is part of bp’s Convenience & Mobility business – one of bp’s three strategic pillars to transform into an integrated energy company.

Singh will be succeeded by Michelle Jou, who brings extensive strategic commercial expertise, with more than 25 years’ experience across sales, marketing, supply chain and executive management in the chemical industry. She will join bp on 11 April 2022.

Most recently, Jou was global president of the Polycarbonates business unit at Covestro, one of the world’s leading polymer companies which serves the mobility, electronic and electrical industries. Under Jou’s leadership, the business unit became the global leader and a trusted partner of choice of many global OEMs.

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, arose from the Bayer Group’s chemicals and plastics unit. It was established as a legally independent company in 2015.

“Under Mandhir’s leadership, Castrol has set out a clear growth and sustainability strategy that will enable the business to play a key role in bp’s transition to an integrated energy company. I‘m delighted Michelle is joining bp and will build on the strong platform already established to drive further growth for Castrol. She brings extensive experience in strategy implementation, customer centricity and supply chain,” said Emma Delaney, EVP Customers & Products, bp.

“I’m passionate about sustainability. At Covestro, I established the first closed loop collaboration with partners in China and introduced the first Carbon Neutral Polycarbonates in the industry into the German market. I’m looking forward to helping drive Castrol’s sustainability agenda through our PATH360 strategy and meeting the evolving needs of our customers,” said Jou.