Renewables are nice, but petroleum provides the profits, it seems. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

In defining its purpose, energy company bp states, “Our purpose is reimagining energy for people and our planet.”

Apparently there’s not a whole lot of imagination at the company because it seems, according to reporting from Reuters, that said reimagination is going to be more of the same.

As the opening to the Reuters story has it:

“BP has abandoned a target to cut oil and gas output by 2030 as CEO Murray Auchincloss scales back the firm’s energy transition strategy to regain investor confidence, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.”

The whole notion of cutting oil and gas output by 40% by 2030 was announced in 2020. But that 40% was ratcheted back to 25% in February 2023.

That “abandoned” seems to indicate it is now closer to 0, if not all the way there.

As you may recall, bp came up with a moderately clever “Beyond Petroleum” slogan to play upon its name.

Seems like it is more like “Bullish (on) Petroleum.”

Meanwhile, over at ExxonMobil, when it announced its Q2 2023 financials, Darren Woods, chairman and CEO, stated, “We delivered our second-highest 2Q earnings of the past decade as we continue to improve the fundamental earnings power of the company.

“We achieved record quarterly production from our low-cost-of-supply Permian and Guyana assets, with the highest oil production since the Exxon and Mobil merger.”

Yes, oil is not going away anytime soon, EV investments notwithstanding

And while there are regulations around the world regarding the reduction of carbon emissions, how long are they going to stand if the market isn’t interested in those vehicles?