By Sarah Kent And Justin Scheck 

LONDON-- BP PLC's annual meeting is usually a quiet event. Big investors stay home, and smaller shareholders show up to raise sometimes off-topic concerns about things like the maintenance of BP's shipping fleet before they sit down for a company-provided lunch--wine included.

But this year, in the midst of a prolonged oil-price crunch, there is keen investor attention on what energy-industry leaders have to say---and especially on BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley, who will face public questions for the first time in more than two months at Thursday's meeting.

Mr. Dudley is facing a competitive threat from Royal Dutch Shell PLC--which just offered about $70 billion to buy BG Group PLC in a deal that would dominate global natural gas markets--along with questions around BP's turnaround since its 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster. BP's board and shareholders are moving toward a new recognition of how anti-global-warming policies affect the energy business. And last month a shareholder advisory group recommended investors vote down Mr. Dudley's $15 million pay package.

This is BP's first annual meeting since oil prices began nose-diving last summer, falling from $115 a barrel for Brent crude, the global benchmark to $47, in January. It was trading at about $60 on Wednesday afternoon, continuing to drag down oil producers' profits.

"What these companies should say is if the oil price drops materially, we're in a different situation than a year ago, and to lay out their strategic plans," said Paul Mumford, an investment manager at Cavendish Asset Management, which held about $1 million worth of BP stock as of February.

The pressures on Mr. Dudley are varied.

Among the loudest complaints are those about his pay package. Shareholders will be asked to vote on a proposal to increase Mr. Dudley's total compensation to more than $15 million in 2014 from $14.6 million a year earlier, despite the company's difficulties, including a money-losing fourth quarter.

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis last month said shareholders should vote against his proposed pay.

"The company's chief executive receives remuneration that outpaces the remuneration given to chief executives at firms of a similar size, despite the company's relative underperformance over the period," Glass Lewis wrote in a March report.

BP said executive pay is closely linked to BP's performance and was part of a program approved by shareholders. The company said that most of Mr. Dudley's pay is in shares, which "aligns his reward with the long-term interests of shareholders."

"Remuneration for 2014 was entirely in line with this policy and reflected the delivery of BP's strategic targets over the past three years," the company said in response to questions.

Overall, Mr. Dudley's pay and bonuses jumped by 25% last year from 2013 to $12.7 million, excluding an additional $2.6 million increase in the value of the CEO's pension. Glass Lewis says around 13% of voting shareholders voted against BP's executive pay package last year and 19% abstained, indicating widespread discontent. But large shareholders have typically not raised the issue about executive pay at BP, which remains lower than what its counterparts pay.

Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden's total remuneration, including pension and tax equalization, was $32.16 million last year. Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson took home $33.1 million in 2014. And Chevron CEO John Watson took home $26 million in 2014.

Mr. Dudley faces plenty of other challenges. BP has already announced plans to slash its capital and exploration budget by 20% this year following a five-year program of divestments after the 2010 Macondo well blowout, which killed 11 workers in the Gulf of Mexico. The cuts, some investors say, helped the company prepare for the oil-price slump.

"BP had a near-death experience with Macondo which forced them to reassess their strategy," said Chris Watt, the manager of the Jupiter growth and income fund at Jupiter Asset Management Ltd., which held more than $520 million in BP shares in February. "That's why I like BP; I feel they're further down the road than others because they've had this massive shock."

But the cuts could hurt its ability to strengthen itself for the future. BP's production last year was down in 2014, and the company last year only found enough resources to replace 63% of the oil and gas it pumped. And the company says that it has been approving new oil-and-gas projects that would be profitable at $80 per barrel--about 30% more than the oil price this week.

BP's competitive landscape shifted last week with Royal Dutch Shell PLC's bid for BG Group PLC. The tie-up would make Shell a dominant shipper of liquefied natural gas, a market in which BP is also active. Investors and analysts say they don't expect BP to make a similar acquisition, as the company is still dealing with uncertainty over how much it will pay out in damages of the Gulf spill.

In a new development, BP management said it would support shareholder proposals to quantify and disclose risks stemming from initiatives to stem carbon emissions. BP's board, like Shell's, has approved resolutions calling for disclosure of climate-related risks. The sovereign-wealth fund of Norway, a major oil-producing state, said Wednesday that it would vote in favor of the proposals.

Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com and Justin Scheck at justin.scheck@wsj.com

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