BP is preparing to embark on a round of meetings with its largest shareholders, as investors seek reassurances the oil giant can get to grips with its growing list of recent setbacks, including the damaging shutdown at the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska.

The energy group is expected to wheel out senior executives for the meetings, including Lord Browne of Madingley, the chief executive, and chairman Peter Sutherland. Meetings are likely to take place over the next week.

A spokesman for BP told Times Online this morning it had received requests from a number of its leading shareholders, including Morley Fund Management, the fifth-largest shareholder in the group.

He stressed the oil group was not embarking on a shareholder charm offensive, but did acknowledge that some of its top investors had raised concerns. "We will be meeting them. We would expect our shareholders to take an active interest. They own the company," he said. Morley declined to comment.

The round of shareholder talks comes as pressure grows on BP to reassert its ability to tackle governance issues, particulary in the United States.

It also comes as BP's share price hit a low for the year of 580.5p this morning. The shares have fallen from a 12-month peak of 712p and were last seen trading this low in June last year.

As well as facing US justice department investigations into last year's fatal fire at its refinery in Texas, BP has been accused of alleged manipulation in the market for propane trading and regulators are said to be examining some of its crude oil and petrol trades. BP has denied the propane trading allegations.

Its most recent setback was the forced closure in early August of half of Prudhoe Bay, the largest oil field in the US, capable of producing 400,000 barrels of oil a day, or 8 per cent of total US daily requirements.

Since the leak was discovered, production has being running at half this amount. Last night BP said it had managed to increase output to 250,000 barrels a day.

BP's relationships with shareholders are nevertheless thought to be cordial. The group said it regularly talks to investors but declined to comment on specific meetings.

News of the talks emerges as BP applied for permission to resume production on the eastern side of its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska.

BP, which wants to check and begin work on replacing pipelines in the area, said it has also committed to replace a full 16 of the 22 miles of transit pipelines at Prudhoe Bay. It said it hoped to carry out the work this winter.

BP has been carrying out rigorously daily inspections of pipelines at Prudhoe Bay since shortly after being forced to shut down half the field after discovering unexpectedly severe rust and a four-barrel leak on the eastern side in early August.

It said that checks so far "continue to show no significant anomalies have been found", aside from those identified in the initial "pigging" or internal pipeline maintenance checks.

"Based on those results, BP has high confidence in its ability to conduct in-line testing without a leak on the oil transit line," BP said as it said it had made its submission to reopen the pipeline to the US Department of Transportation.

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