As it achieved record profits amid rising oil and gas prices, BP is scaling back its plans to cut back on its oil and gas production.
The business had earlier pledged that emissions will be 35–40% lower by the end of this decade. It was one of the first oil and gas giants to express an intention to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.
On Tuesday, however, it declared that it was now aiming for a 20–30% reduction, stating that it was necessary to continue investing in oil and gas to satisfy existing demands.
The oil company’s new policy, according to environmental advocacy group Greenpeace, will only worsen the state of the globe.
The figures from BP come after rivals Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron last week reported similarly impressive profits.
In light of the business’s “energy trilemma,” chief executive Bernard Looney has drastically revised his plan to move the corporation towards cleaner energy as part of the effort to combat global warming.
The action is being taken at a time of increased worry over energy security in the wake of the disruption that Russia’s assault on Ukraine caused to the oil and gas markets.
However, BP is also boosting its investment in cleaner energy, with plans to spend up to $65 billion between 2023 and 2030 on things like hydrogen, electric car charging stations, wind and solar energy, and bioenergy.
Mr Looney told Bloomberg TV “The energy trilemma is we must have cleaner energy, for sure, and at the same time we must make sure that energy is secure, reliable and we must make sure that energy is affordable.”
“The way that we do that is that we have to invest in today’s energy system. The reality is that today’s energy system is predominantly an oil and gas system.”
“That needs investment if we are to make sure that we can keep security and affordability front and foremost and the war has shown us just how crucial that is.”
Following a year of high oil and gas prices amid shortages and market disruption due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, BP announced the change to its strategy as it reported record earnings of $28 billion (£23 billion).
In addition to reporting record earnings, BP upped its dividend payment to shareholders by 10%.
We are a leading global infrastructure and renewables search & recruitment business. The stories we report are often announced before other news publications, thanks for following us. Please get in contact to discuss your hiring needs: info@infra-be.com.
