The lowered target was inserted into the company’s quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, where it posted profits of $27.7 billion in 2022, more than double that of 2021. Oil prices soared skyrocketed last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked energy markets.
The company said it would target “short-cycle rapid recovery opportunities” in oil and gas with $8 billion in spending, along with an additional $8 billion for “energy transition growth drivers.” . It also plans to send more money to investors, thereby increasing its dividend. 10% and adding $2.75 billion in share buybacks.
“It is clearer than ever after the past three years that the world wants and needs secure, affordable and low-carbon energy – all three together, the so-called energy trilemma,” said said BP chief executive Bernard Looney in a press release. .
“To remedy this, we must act to accelerate the transition. And – at the same time – action is needed to ensure the transition is orderly, so that affordable energy continues to flow to where it is needed today.
The new emissions target is a step back for BP, which has said it wants to reduce its emissions net to zero by 2050.
BP’s previous targets were announced in 2020 as part of a broader plan to comply with the 2015 Paris climate accord. It pledged to transform itself by halting oil exploration and gas in new countries, drastically reducing oil and gas production and increasing capital expenditure on low-carbon energy.
It has been hailed as the first “supermajor” oil company to explain in detail what its energy transition would actually entail. Competing companies followed with their own promises.
But war in Ukraine has sent crude prices skyrocketing in 2022. Soaring gasoline prices have followed, adding to the pain at the pump for everyday motorists, while expensive diesel has contributed to inflate the prices of many consumer goods.
This led to booming profits for Big Oil. Last week, Shell reported earning $41.6 billion in 2022, while ExxonMobil and Chevron made $55.7 billion and $36.5 billion, respectively.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
