Tag Archives: bp

There Will Be Oil

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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?

COVID, the UK and bp

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The UK has become the first European country to pass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19.

And while there is nothing good to say about that, the energy company bp (once known as “British Petroleum”) is doing something good:

  1. Providing fuel free of charge for UK emergency services vehicles until March 31
  2. Teaming with Deliveroo on its “Lunch for Lifesavers” program and donating 250,000 bp/M&S meals to staff and volunteers at vaccination centers and to front line NHS workers in the UK

The vehicles that qualify for the free fuel include police, fire, NHS ambulances, NHS trust non-emergency vehicles, blood bikes, and vehicles used by NHS-contracted companies involved in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year bp ran a similar program and supplied more than 10-million liters of fuel.

Explaining why the company is doing this, Bernard Looney, bp chief executive, said, “A year into this crisis, it continues to take a ‎heavy toll on our neighbours and our nation. These latest initiatives use our resources and ‎reach across the country to support essential services and the people who are working ‎around the clock to keep us all safe. The UK has been our home for over a century and we ‎feel it’s important that we do our bit to help.”

Credit to the company for pitching in.