The company has already scaled back its target to reduce oil and gas output – set by Auchincloss’s predecessor Bernard Looney – by the end of the decade. In 2020, the last time it presented a comprehensive strategy update, it aimed for a 40% reduction, but changed this to a 25% reduction in 2023, and is expected to reduce it further on Wednesday.
Since taking over, initially on an interim basis in September 2023, Auchincloss has scaled back investments in renewables and diluted BP’s climate pledges. He is also pushing through $2bn of cost cuts, which include cutting thousands of jobs and scrapping contractors to reduce the workforce by 5%.
No surprise there. Same with Shell. Companies are bad at pivoting away from established revenue streams. They can’t do it. Same reason car firms are pleading for deadlines to be pushed back.
We’re better off backing newcomer companies dedicated to the new paradigm, and let these fossils die. Sadly governments rarely see it that way.