BP returns to oil and gas
A year ago under then-CEO Murray Auchincloss, BP announced a strategy reset back to hydrocarbons, saying the move would improve profitability after an ill-fated foray into renewables by his predecessor Bernard Looney.
Auchincloss exited abruptly in December, leaving trading chief Carol Howle in charge on an interim basis until O’Neill takes the helm as BP’s fourth CEO in less than three years.
BP had previously flagged up to $5 billion in impairments and, on Tuesday, listed its solar unit Lightsouce bp, US biogas unit Archaea and offshore wind businesses as the main reasons. BP bought Archaea in 2022 for $4.1 billion.
Providing an update on its Brazilian Bumerangue discovery, which it has hailed as its biggest in 25 years, BP said it estimates the field to hold eight billion barrels of liquids in place, split equally between oil and condensate, a low-density hydrocarbon liquid. It said it plans to drill appraisal wells around the end of the year.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Joe Bavier)
