BP to slash green spending, pivot back to oil
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. LONDON : BP said it would boost oil-and-gas production and sharply cut investments in clean energy, pivoting back to fossil fuels in a bid to revive its flagging share price. The struggling British energy company announced the moves Wednesday as part of a much-anticipated strategy update aimed at winning over investors.
Those include activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which recently took a stake in BP with a view to pushing for significant changes. “We have fundamentally reset BP’s strategy," Chief Executive Murray Auchincloss said. Higher investment in oil-and-gas fields would enable BP to pump high-margin fossil fuels for years to come, he said, adding that the company would be very selective in the investments it makes in the energy transition.
BP shares fell about 1% in morning trading in London. Auchincloss is set to lay out further details of his plan to revive the energy giant at a presentation to investors later Wednesday. BP’s shares have lagged behind those of rivals Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron since the company took the most aggressive steps by an oil major to shift toward lower-carbon sources of energy in 2020.
That bet backfired when fossil-fuel consumption roared back after the early days of the pandemic and prices rocketed when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since taking the helm of BP in the fall of 2023, Auchincloss has dialed back BP’s hydrogen and biofuel plans, put its onshore-wind business in the U.S. up for sale and launched a cost-cutting drive.
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