Investment Week (May 9)
“BP’s latest plan to buy back $2.5bn of stock this quarter has pushed forecasts for FTSE 100 firm buybacks to be on track for a record high in 2022. FTSE 100 firms are now planning £37bn of share buybacks this year, compared to the prior record of £34.9bn in 2018.”
New York Times (March 9)
“A week after a chorus of Western executives from Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other companies… pledged to pull their companies out of Russian ventures, it appears the turbulence for Russia’s energy industry has only begun.” The industry now looks poised to undergo a “wrenching reworking…. because Russian oil and gas have suddenly become toxic to many buyers.”
Tags: BP, Energy, Exxon Mobil, Gas, Oil, Pledged, Reworking, Russia, Shell, Toxic, Turbulence, Ventures, Western, Wrenching
Bloomberg (March 1)
“First BP, then Shell. In just two days, Britain’s twin energy giants have dumped Russian investments nurtured over decades and shut themselves out of the world’s largest energy exporter, probably forever.” The moves will “put pressure on remaining foreign investors, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and France’s TotalEnergies SE, to follow suit as Russia’s war in Ukraine forces a dramatic rupture with the global economy.”
Tags: BP, Energy giants, Exporter, Exxon Mobil, Investments, Investors, Nurtured, Pressure, Russia, Shell, TotalEnergies, UK, Ukraine, War
Financial Times (February 14)
The Climate Leadership Council relaunched a carbon tax initiative “with support from ten energy companies (including BP), JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and MetLife. “If nothing else, this shows the pressure that Wall Street leaders feel on the issue from investors and their own employees.” It could also mark an important shift where “the concept might gain traction with Republicans.”
Tags: BP, Carbon tax, Climate Leadership Council, Concept, Employees, Energy companies, Goldman Sachs, Initiative, Investors, JPMorgan, MetLife, Republicans, Wall Street
Reuters (September 5)
“The most likely outcome is now that GDP growth will come in below 2.5%, perhaps significantly lower, the worst since the recession of 2008/09. By implication, oil consumption growth is likely to slip below 1% and 1 million bpd, in line with BP’s latest forecast,” but well short of the last two decade’s 1.5% average annual growth rate. “Until the global economy recovers momentum, oil consumption growth is likely to remain well below trend, keeping prices under pressure.”
Tags: BP, Economy, Forecast, GDP, Growth, Implication, Momentum, Oil consumption, Outcome, Recession
Washington Post (January 6)
The Post declares the oil drilling industry is “in over their heads.” The industry has raced to tap deeper, riskier drilling environments without making proper adjustments in processes and technology. Released portions of a presidential report on the BP Horizon oil spill demonstrate that government regulations and oversight must be strengthened. Most of all, “every company involved in oil drilling—not just BP—must individually and in concert with others evaluate industry standards and safety research programs. And none should assume that BP’s mistakes could not occur elsewhere.”
Tags: BP, Horizon, Oil drilling, Regulations, Safety
The New York Times (July 13)
As BP inches toward stopping the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Times examines BP’s past performance. The newspaper draws a harsh conclusion. “In pursuit of growth and profits, BP has taken monumental risks and suffered the consequences. But its record shows that it has been unable or unwilling to learn from its expensive mistakes.”
The Times—London (June 21)
BP has achieved “the absolute worst possible corporate response to an oil disaster.” The Times runs through BP’s missteps and especially takes CEO Tony Hayward to task. Hayward has become a “global laughing stock” at a time when BP and its shareholders need leadership.
The Washington Post (June 17)
BP will escrow $20 billion to fund the oil spill cleanup. The Post puts this amount in perspective. That’s enough money “to buy all the shares of the Kellogg Co. And it’s larger than the annual economic output of 90 countries.” Not many companies can make a $20 billion mistake and still survive. Fortunately, it looks like BP can.
Businessweek (June 9)
To drill offshore in the U.S., top oil executives will now be required to personally sign, certifying their operations are in full regulatory compliance and that they are capable of shutting down wells in emergencies. The new requirements come in light of BP’s continuing oil spill which has become America’s worst environmental disaster. The pledges are reminiscent of Sarbanes-Oxley rules implemented after Enron. Since then, CEO’s and CFO’s must personally sign certain financial reports to verify accuracy.
Tags: BP, Offshore drilling, Oil, Sarbanes-Oxley
