BP's origins date back to the founding of theAnglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, established as a subsidiary ofBurmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries inIran. In 1935, it became theAnglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954, adopted the nameBritish Petroleum.[4][5] BP acquired majority control ofStandard Oil of Ohio in 1978. Formerly majority state-owned, the British government privatised the company in stages between 1979 and 1987. BP merged withAmoco in 1998, becomingBP Amoco p.l.c., and acquiredARCO,Burmah Castrol andAral AG shortly thereafter. The company's name was shortened toBP p.l.c. in 2001.
As of 2018[update], BP had operations in nearly 80 countries, produced around 3.7 million barrels per day (590,000 m3/d) ofoil equivalent, and had total proven reserves of 19.945 billion barrels (3.1710×109 m3) of oil equivalent.[6] The company has around 18,700 service stations worldwide,[6] which it operates under the BP brand (worldwide) and under the Amoco brand (in the U.S.) and the Aral brand (in Germany).[7] Its largest division is BP America in the United States. BP is the fourth-largest investor-owned oil company in the world by 2021 revenues (afterExxonMobil,Shell, andTotalEnergies).[8] BP had a market capitalisation of US$98.36 billion as of 2022, placing it 122nd in the world,[9][10] and its Fortune Global 500 rank was 35th in 2022 with revenues of US$164.2 billion.[11] The company's primary stock listing in on theLondon Stock Exchange, where it is a member of theFTSE 100 Index.
From 1988 to 2015, BP was responsible for 1.53% of global industrialgreenhouse gas emissions[12] and has been directly involved in several major environmental and safety incidents. Among them were the 2005Texas City refinery explosion, which caused the death of 15 workers and which resulted in a record-settingOSHA fine; Britain's largest oil spill, the wreck ofTorrey Canyon in 1967; and the 2006Prudhoe Bay oil spill, the largest oil spill onAlaska's North Slope, which resulted in a US$25 million civil penalty, the largest per-barrel penalty at that time for an oil spill.[13] BP's worst environmental catastrophe was the 2010Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history, which leaked about 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m3) of oil,[14] causing severe environmental, human health, and economic consequences[15] and serious legal and public relations repercussions for BP, costing more than $4.5 billion in fines and penalties, and an additional $18.7 billion in Clean Water Act-related penalties and other claims, the largest criminal resolution in US history.[16][17][18][19] Altogether, the oil spill cost the company more than $65 billion.[20][21]
Immediately after establishing the company, theBritish government askedPercy Cox, British resident toBushehr, to negotiate an agreement withSheikh Khaz'al Ibn Jabir ofArabistan for APOC to obtain a site onAbadan Island for arefinery, depot,storage tanks, and other operations. The refinery was built and began operating in 1912.[22] In 1914, the British government acquired a controlling interest (50.0025%) in the company, at the urging ofWinston Churchill, the thenFirst Lord of the Admiralty, and the British navy quickly switched from coal to oil for the majority of their war ships.[24][25][26] APOC also signed a 30-year contract with theBritish Admiralty for supplying oil for theRoyal Navy at the fixed price.[27] In 1915, APOC established its shipping subsidiary theBritish Tanker Company and in 1916, it acquired the British Petroleum Company which was a marketing arm of the GermanEuropäische Petroleum Union in Britain.[24] In 1919, the company became ashale-oil producer by establishing a subsidiary named Scottish Oils which merged remaining Scottishoil-shale industries.[28][29][30][31]
AfterWorld War I, APOC started marketing its products inContinental Europe and acquired stakes in the localmarketing companies in several European countries. Refineries were built inLlandarcy in Wales (the first refinery in the United Kingdom) andGrangemouth in Scotland. It also acquired the controlling stake in theCourchelettes refinery in France and formed, in conjunction with theGovernment of Australia, a partnership namedCommonwealth Oil Refineries, which built the Australian's first refinery inLaverton, Victoria.[24] In 1923, Burmah employedWinston Churchill as a paid consultant tolobby the British government to allow APOC have exclusive rights toPersian oil resources, which were subsequently granted by the Iranian monarchy.[32]
APOC and the Armenian businessmanCalouste Gulbenkian were the driving forces behind the creation ofTurkish Petroleum Company (TPC) in 1912, to explore oil inMesopotamia (now Iraq); and by 1914, APOC held 50% of TPC shares.[33] In 1925, TPC received concession in theMesopotamian oil resources from theIraqi government under British mandate. TPC finally struck oil in Iraq on 14 October 1927. By 1928, the APOC's shareholding in TPC, which by now was namedIraq Petroleum Company (IPC), was reduced to 23.75%; as the result of the changing geopolitics postOttoman empire break-up, and theRed Line Agreement.[34] Relations were generally cordial between the pro-westHashemite Monarchy (1932–58) in Iraq and IPC, in spite of disputes centred on Iraq's wish for greater involvement and more royalties. During the 1928–68 time period, IPC monopolised oil exploration inside theRed Line; excluding Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.[35][36]
In 1927, Burmah Oil andRoyal Dutch Shell formed the joint marketing companyBurmah-Shell. In 1928, APOC and Shell formed the Consolidated Petroleum Company for sale and marketing in Cyprus, South Africa and Ceylon, which in 1932 followed by a joint marketing companyShell-Mex and BP in the United Kingdom.[26][37] In 1937, AIOC and Shell formed the Shell/D'Arcy Exploration Partners partnership to explore for oil inNigeria. The partnership was equally owned but operated by Shell. It was later replaced by Shell-D'Arcy Petroleum Development Company and Shell-BP Petroleum Development Company (nowShell Petroleum Development Company).[38]
In 1934, APOC andGulf Oil founded theKuwait Oil Company as an equally owned partnership. The oil concession rights were awarded to the company on 23 December 1934 and the company started drilling operations in 1936.[39][40] In 1935,Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to Persia as 'Iran', which was reflected in the name change of APOC to theAnglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).[41]
In 1937,Iraq Petroleum Company, 23.75% owned by BP,[42] signed an oil concession agreement with the Sultan of Muscat that covers the entire region of the Sultanate, which was in fact limited to the coastal area of present-day Oman. After several years of failure to discover oil in the Sultanate's region, IPC presumed that oil was more likely to be found in the interior region of Oman, which was part of the Imamate of Oman. IPC offered financial support to raise an armed force that would assist the Sultanate in occupying the interior region of Oman. Later, in 1954, the Sultan of Muscat, backed by the British government and the financial aid he received from IPC, started occupying regions within the interior of Oman, which led to the outbreak ofJebel Akhdar War that lasted for more than 5 years.[43]
In 1947, British Petroleum Chemicals was incorporated as a joint venture of AIOC andThe Distillers Company. In 1956, the company was renamed British Hydrocarbon Chemicals.[44]
Following World War II, nationalistic sentiments were on the rise in the Middle East; most notable beingIranian nationalism, andArab Nationalism. In Iran, the AIOC and the pro-western Iranian government led by Prime MinisterAli Razmara resisted nationalist calls to revise AIOC's concession terms in Iran's favour. In March 1951, Razmara was assassinated andMohammed Mossadeq, a nationalist, was elected as the new prime minister by theMajlis of Iran (parliament).[45] In April 1951, the Iranian governmentnationalised the Iranian oil industry by unanimous vote, and theNational Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was formed, displacing the AIOC.[46][47] The AIOC withdrew its management from Iran, and Britain organised an effective worldwide embargo of Iranian oil. The British government, which owned the AIOC, contested the nationalisation at theInternational Court of Justice atThe Hague, but its complaint was dismissed.[48]
Prime Minister Churchill asked President Eisenhower for help in overthrowing Mossadeq. The anti-Mossadeq plan was orchestrated under the code-name 'Operation Ajax' by CIA, and 'Operation Boot' bySIS (MI6). The CIA and the British helped stage a coup in August 1953, the1953 Iranian coup d'état, which established pro-Western generalFazlollah Zahedi as the new PM, and greatly strengthened the political power of ShahMohammad Reza Pahlavi. The AIOC was able to return to Iran.[49]
In 1954, the AIOC became the British Petroleum Company. After the1953 Iranian coup d'état,Iranian Oil Participants Ltd (IOP), aholding company, was founded in October 1954, in London to bring Iranian oil back to the international market.[50][51] British Petroleum was a founding member of this company with 40% stake.[45][50] IOP operated and managed oil facilities in Iran on behalf of NIOC.[50][51] Similar to theSaudi-Aramco "50/50" agreement of 1950,[52] the consortium agreed to share profits on a 50–50 basis with Iran, "but not to open its books to Iranian auditors or to allow Iranians onto its board of directors."[53]
In 1953, British Petroleum entered the Canadian market through the purchase of a minority stake in Calgary-based Triad Oil Company, and expanded further to Alaska in 1959, resulting discovery of oil atPrudhoe Bay in 1969.[26][54] In 1956, its subsidiary D'Arcy Exploration Co. (Africa) Ltd. was granted four oil concessions inLibya.[55] In 1962, Scottish Oils ceasedoil-shale operations.[31] In 1965, it was the first company to strike oil in theNorth Sea.[56] In 1969, BP entered the United States by acquiring the East Coast refining and marketing assets ofSinclair Oil Corporation.[57] The Canadian holding company of British Petroleum was renamedBP Canada in 1969; and in 1971, it acquired 97.8% stake ofSupertest Petroleum.[58]
By the 1960s, British Petroleum had developed a reputation for taking on the riskiest ventures. It earned the company massive profits; it also earned them the worst safety record in the industry. In 1967, the giant oil tankerTorrey Canyon foundered off the English coast. Over 32 million US gallons (760,000 bbl; 120,000 m3) of crude oil was spilled into the Atlantic and onto the beaches of Cornwall and Brittany, causingBritain's worst-ever oil spill.[59] The ship was owned by theBahamas-based Barracuda Tanker Corporation and was flying the flag ofLiberia, a well-knownflag of convenience, but was being chartered by British Petroleum.[59] The ship was bombed byRAFjet bombers in an effort to break up the ship and burn off the leaking oil, but this failed to destroy the oil slick.[60]
In 1967, BP acquired chemical and plastics assets of The Distillers Company which were merged with British Hydrocarbon Chemicals to form BP Chemicals.[61]
The company's oil assets were nationalised in Libya in 1971, in Kuwait in 1975, and in Nigeria in 1979.[40][47][62] In Iraq, IPC ceased its operations after it was nationalised by theBa'athist Iraqi government in June 1972, although legally Iraq Petroleum Company still remains in existence but as a dormant company,[63] and one of its associated companies —Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company (ADPC), formerly Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd – also continues with the original shareholding intact.[64][65]
The intensified power struggle between oil companies and host governments in Middle East, along with the oil price shocks that followed the1973 oil crisis meant British Petroleum lost most of its direct access to crude oil supplies produced in countries that belonged to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and prompted it to diversify its operations beyond the heavily Middle East dependent oil production. In 1976, BP and Shell de-merged their marketing operations in the United Kingdom by dividing Shell-Mex and BP. In 1978, the company acquired a controlling interest inStandard Oil of Ohio (Sohio).[66]
In Iran, British Petroleum continued to operate until theIslamic Revolution in 1979. The new regime ofAyatollah Khomeini nationalised all of the company's assets in Iran without compensation: as a result, BP lost 40% of its global crude oil supplies.[67]
In 1970–1980s, BP diversified intocoal,minerals andnutrition businesses which all were divested later.[26]
TheBritish government sold 80 million shares of BP at $7.58 in 1979, as part ofThatcher-era privatisation. This sale represented slightly more than 5% of BP's total shares and reduced the government's ownership of the company to 46%.[68] On 19 October 1987, Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher authorised the sale of an additional GBP7.5 billion ($12.2 billion) of BP shares at 333 pence, representing the government's remaining 31% stake in the company.[69][70]
In November 1987, theKuwait Investment Office purchased a 10.06% interest in BP, becoming the largest institutional shareholder.[71] The following May, the KIO purchased additional shares, bringing their ownership to 21.6%.[72] This raised concerns within BP that operations in the United States, BP's primary country of operations, would suffer. In October 1988, the BritishDepartment of Trade and Industry required the KIO to reduce its shares to 9.6% within 12 months.[73]
Peter Walters was the company chairman from 1981 to 1990.[74] During his period as chairman he reduced the company's refining capacity in Europe.[74] In 1982, thedownstream assets of BP Canada were sold toPetro Canada. In 1984,Standard Oil of California was renamed theChevron Corporation; it bought Gulf Oil—the largest merger in history at that time.[75] To meet anti-trust regulations, Chevron divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States to British Petroleum andCumberland Farms in 1985.[76] In 1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition ofBritoil[77] and the remaining publicly traded shares of Standard Oil of Ohio.[66] At the same year it was listed on theTokyo Stock Exchange where its share were traded until delisting in 2008.[78]
Walters was replaced as chair byRobert Horton in 1990. Horton wrote on his appointment that he and his senior colleagues would adopt values representing the interests of "allstakeholders", including the company's employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers and the community".[79] Horton carried out a major corporate downsizing exercise, removing various tiers of management at the head office.[80] In 1992, British Petroleum sold off its 57% stake in BP Canada (upstream operations), which was renamed asTalisman Energy.[81]John Browne, who had joined BP in 1966 and rose through the ranks to join the board as managing director in 1991, was appointed group chief executive in 1995.[82]
In 1981, British Petroleum entered into the solar technology sector by acquiring 50% of Lucas Energy Systems, a company which became Lucas BP Solar Systems, and laterBP Solar. The company was a manufacturer and installer ofphotovoltaicsolar cells. It became wholly owned by British Petroleum in the mid-1980s.[83]
British Petroleum entered the Russian market in 1990 and opened its first service station in Moscow in 1996.[84] In 1997, it acquired a 10% stake for $571 million in the Russian oil companySidanco, which later became a part of TNK-BP.[85][84] Sidanco was run by Russian oligarchVladimir Potanin who obtained Sidanco through the controversialloans-for-shares privatization scheme.[84] In 2003, BP invested $8 billion into a joint venture with Russian oligarchMikhail Fridman's TNK.[84]
In 1992, the company entered the Azerbaijani market. In 1994, it signed the production sharing agreement for theAzeri–Chirag–Guneshli oil project and in 1995 for theShah Deniz gas field development.[86]
Under John Browne, British Petroleum acquired other oil companies, transforming BP into the third largest oil company in the world. British Petroleum merged withAmoco (formerly Standard Oil of Indiana) in December 1998, becoming BP Amoco plc.[87][88] Most Amoco stations in the United States were converted to BP's brand and corporate identity. In 2000, BP Amoco acquiredAtlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) andBurmah Castrol.[89][90][91][92] Together with the acquisition of ARCO in 2000, BP became owner of a 33.5% stake in the Olympic Pipeline. Later that year, BP became an operator of the pipeline and increased its stake up to 62.5%.[93][94]
As part of the merger's brand awareness, the company helped theTate Modern gallery of British Art launchRePresenting Britain 1500–2000.[95] In 2001, in response to negative press on British Petroleum's poor safety standards, the company adopted a greensunburst logo and rebranded itself as BP ("Beyond Petroleum") plc.[88] This conincided with Buccaroonies implementing the Wild Bean Cafe stores into BP Connect stations.[96]
Steven Koonin, BP's Chief Scientist, speaking in the company boardroom in 2005 (top right of picture)
In the beginning of the 2000s, BP became the leading partner (and later operator) of theBaku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline project which opened a new oil transportation route from the Caspian region.[97] In 2002, BP acquired the majority of Veba Öl AG, a subsidiary ofVEBA AG, and subsequently rebranded its existing stations in Germany to theAral name.[98] As part of the deal, BP acquired also the Veba Öl's stake in Ruhr Öl joint venture. Ruhr Öl was dissolved in 2016.[99]
On 1 September 2003, BP and a group of Russian billionaires, known as AAR (Alfa–Access–Renova), announced the creation of a strategic partnership to jointly hold their oil assets in Russia and Ukraine. As a result, TNK-ВР was created.[100]
On 23 March 2005, 15 workers were killed and more than 170 injured in theTexas City refinery explosion. To save money, major upgrades to the 1934 refinery had been postponed.[104] Browne pledged to prevent another catastrophe. Three months later, 'Thunder Horse PDQ', BP's giant new production platform in the Gulf of Mexico, nearly sank during a hurricane. In their rush to finish the $1 billion platform, workers had installed a valve backwards, allowing the ballast tanks to flood. Inspections revealed other shoddy work. Repairs costing hundreds of millions kept Thunder Horse out of commission for three years.[104]
Lord Browne resigned from BP on 1 May 2007. The head of exploration and productionTony Hayward became the new chief executive.[105] In 2009, Hayward shifted emphasis from Lord Browne's focus on alternative energy, announcing that safety would henceforth be the company's "number one priority".[106]
In 2007, BP formed withAB Sugar andDuPont a joint venture Vivergo Fuels which opened a bioethanol plant inSaltend nearHull, United Kingdom in December 2012.[107] Together with DuPont, BP formed abiobutanol joint venture Butamax by acquiring biobutan technology company Biobutanol LLC in 2009.[108]
PresidentBarack Obama meeting with BP executives at the White House in June 2010 to discuss the oil spill in theGulf of MexicoA modern BP filling station (built in 2015) inNew Zealand, with a Wild Bean Cafe and BP ConnectA modern BP filling station inBramley,Leeds
On 20 April 2010, theDeepwater Horizon oil spill, a major industrial accident, happened.[14] Consequently,Bob Dudley replaced Tony Hayward as the company's CEO, serving from October 2010 to February 2020.[112][113] BP announced a divestment program to sell about $38 billion worth of non-core assets to compensate its liabilities related to the accident.[114][115] In July 2010, BP sold its natural gas activities inAlberta andBritish Columbia, Canada, toApache Corporation.[116] It sold its stake in the Petroperijá and Boquerón fields in Venezuela and in the Lan Tay and Lan Do fields, the Nam Con Son pipeline and terminal, and thePhu My 3 power plant in Vietnam to TNK-BP,[117][118]forecourts and supply businesses in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi toPuma Energy,[119] theWytch Farm onshore oilfield inDorset and a package of North Sea gas assets toPerenco,[120] natural-gas liquids business in Canada toPlains All American Pipeline LP,[121] natural gas assets in Kansas toLinn Energy,[122] Carson Refinery inSouthern California and its ARCO retail network toTesoro, Sunray and Hemphill gas processing plants inTexas, together with their associated gas gathering system, to Eagle Rock Energy Partners,[123][124][125] the Texas City Refinery and associated assets toMarathon Petroleum,[126][127] theGulf of Mexico located Marlin, Dorado, King, Horn Mountain, and Holstein fields as also its stake in non-operated Diana Hoover and Ram Powell fields toPlains Exploration & Production,[114] non-operating stake in theDraugen oil field toNorske Shell,[128] and the UK's liquefied petroleum gas distribution business to DCC.[129] In November 2012, the U.S. Government temporarily banned BP from bidding any new federal contracts. The ban was conditionally lifted in March 2014.[130]
In February 2011, BP formed a partnership withReliance Industries, taking a 30% stake in a new Indian joint-venture for an initial payment of $7.2 billion.[131] In September 2012, BP sold its subsidiary BP Chemicals (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., an operator of the Kuantanpurified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Malaysia, to Reliance Industries for $230 million.[132] In October 2012, BP sold its stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft for $12.3 billion in cash and 18.5% of Rosneft's stock.[133][134] The deal was completed on 21 March 2013.[135] In 2012, BP acquired an acreage in theUtica Shale but these developments plans were cancelled in 2014.[136]
In 2011–2015, BP cut down its alternative energy business. The company announced its departure from the solar energy market in December 2011 by closing its solar power business, BP Solar.[137] In 2012, BP shut down theBP Biofuels Highlands project which was developed since 2008 to makecellulosic ethanol from emerging energy crops likeswitchgrass and frombiomass.[138][139] In 2015, BP decided to exit from otherlignocellulosic ethanol businesses.[140] It sold its stake in Vivergo toAssociated British Foods.[141] BP and DuPont also mothballed their joint biobutanol pilot plant in Saltend.[142]
In June 2014, BP agreed to a deal worth around $20 billion to supplyCNOOC with liquefied natural gas.[143] In 2014,Statoil Fuel & Retail sold its aviation fuel business to BP. To ensure the approval of competition authorities, BP agreed to sell the former Statoil aviation fuel businesses inCopenhagen,Stockholm,Gothenburg andMalmö airports toWorld Fuel Services in 2015.[144]
In April 2017, the company reached an agreement to sell itsForties pipeline system in the North Sea toIneos for $250 million. The sale included terminals atDalmeny and Kinneil, a site in Aberdeen, and the Forties Unity Platform.[147] In 2017, the company floated its subsidiary BP Midstream Partners LP, a pipeline operator in the United States, at the New York Stock Exchange. In Argentina, BP andBridas Corporation agreed to merge their interests in Pan American Energy and Axion Energy to form a jointly owned Pan American Energy Group.[148]
In 2017, BP invested $200 million to acquire a 43% stake in the solar energy developer Lightsource Renewable Energy, a company which was renamedLightsource BP.[149][150] In March 2017, the company acquired Clean Energy's biomethane business and assets, including its production sites and existing supply contracts.[151] In April 2017, its subsidiary Butamax bought anisobutanol production company Nesika Energy.[152]
In 2018, the company purchasedBHP's shale assets in Texas and Louisiana, includingPetrohawk Energy, for $10.5 billion, which were integrated with its subsidiary BPX Energy.[153] Also in 2018, BP bought a 16.5% interest in the Clair field in the UK fromConocoPhillips, increasing its share to 45.1%. BP paid £1.3 billion and gave to ConocoPhillips its 39.2% non-operated stake in theKuparuk River Oil Field and satellite oil fields in Alaska.[154] In December 2018, BP sold its wind assets in Texas.[155]
In 2018, BP acquiredChargemaster, which operated the UK's largest electric vehicle charging network.[156] In 2019, BP andDidi Chuxing formed a joint venture to build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure in China. In September 2020, BP announced it will build out a rapid charging network in London forUber.[157]
In January 2019, BP discovered 1 billion barrels (160×10^6 m3) oil at its Thunder Horse location in the Gulf of Mexico. The company also announced plans to spend $1.3 billion on a third phase of its Atlantis field near New Orleans.[158]
Helge Lund succeeded Carl-Henric Svanberg on 1 January 2019 as chairman of BP Plc board of directors,[159] andBernard Looney succeeded Bob Dudley on 5 February 2020 as chief executive.[160] Amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic, BP claimed that it would "accelerate the transition to a lower carbon economy and energy system" after announcing that the company had to write down $17.5 billion for the second quarter of 2020.[161]
On 29 June 2020, BP sold its petrochemicals unit toIneos for $5 billion. The business was focused onaromatics andacetyls. It had interests in 14 plants in Asia, Europe and the U.S., and achieved production of 9.7 million metric tons in 2019.[162] On 30 June 2020, BP sold all its Alaska upstream operations and interests, including interests inPrudhoe Bay Oil Field, toHilcorp for $5.6 billion.[163][164] On 14 December 2020, it sold its 49% stake in theTrans-Alaska Pipeline System to Harvest Alaska.[165][166]
In September 2020, BP formed a partnership with Equinor to develop offshore wind and announced it will acquire 50% non-operating stake in the Empire Wind off New York and Beacon Wind off Massachusetts offshore wind farms. The deal is expected to be completed at the first half of 2021.[167] In December 2020, BP acquired a majority stake in Finite Carbon, the largest forestcarbon offsets developer in the United States.[168]
In response to the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, BP announced that it would sell its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, although no timeline was announced.[169] At the time of BP's decision, Rosneft's activities accounted for around half of BP's oil and gas reserves and a third of its production.[170] BP's decision came after the British government expressed concern about BP's involvement in Russia.[171][172] However, BP remained a Rosneft shareholder throughout the whole 2022 year, which caused some criticism from the Ukrainian president's office.[173]
In October 2022, BP announced that it would be acquiring Archaea Energy Inc., a renewable natural gas producer, for $4.1 billion.[174] In December 2022, it was announced BP had completed the acquisition of Archaea Energy Inc. for $3.3 billion.[175] In November 2022, the company announced a large increase in profit for the period from July to September due to the high fuel prices caused by theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[176]
In February 2023, BP reported record annual profits, on a replacement cost basis, for the year 2022. On that basis, 2022 profits were more than double than in 2021, and they were also the biggest profits in the whole 114-year long history of BP.[177]
After 10 years of force majeure, BP,Eni andSonatrach resumed exploration in their blocks in the Ghadames Basin (A-B) and offshore Block C in August 2023, continuing their contract obligations.[178][179]
BP increased itsdividend by 10% year-on-year in early 2024 and accelerated share buybacks. It has already announced $1.75 billion before reporting first quarter results and intends to announce a $3.5 billion share buyback in the first half of the year.[180]
In June 2024, BP announced the acquisition of Bunge Bioenergia fromBunge Global forUS$1.4 billion. The purchase will increase BP's ethanol production to 50,000 barrels per day.[182][183][184]
In November 2024, BP and partners announced its plan to invest $7 billion to a carbon capture and gas field development in Indonesia’s Papua region that has the potential of almost 3 trillion cubic feet of gas resource. Production plans are expected to start in 2028 in the Ubadari field.[185]
In January 2025, BP announced that they planned to cut 4,700 staff, more than 5% of its total workforce.[186]
In February 2025, BP declared that it would cut renewable energy investments and focus on increasing oil and gas poduction. The plans will see an increase in investment in the two fossil fuels of around 20% to $10 billion per year, while decreasing planned funding for renewables by more than £5 billion.[187][188]
The decision undermines the emissions and fossil fuel reductions targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, with Greenpeace UK stating that BP's decision to double-down on fossil fuel production was "proof that fossil fuel companies can't or won't be part of climate crisis solutions". BP's share price fell by 2% in the hours that followed the announcement.[189][190]
BPNorth Sea Headquarters, built by the Bowmer and Kirkland group at a cost of £50 million
As of 31 December 2018[update], BP had operations in 78 countries worldwide[6] with the global headquarters in London, United Kingdom. BP operations are organized into three business segments,Upstream,Downstream, andrenewables.[191]
Since 1951, BP has annually published itsStatistical Review ofWorld Energy, which is considered an energy industry benchmark.[192]
The BP chemicals plant inSaltend nearHull, United Kingdom
BP has a major corporate campus inSunbury-on-Thames which is home to around 3,500 employees and over 50 business units.[193] ItsNorth Sea operations are headquartered inAberdeen,Scotland. BP's trading functions are based at20 Canada Square inCanary Wharf, London. BP has three major research and development centres in the UK.[194]
As of 2020, and following the sale of its Andrew and Shearwater interests, BP's operations were focussed in theClair, Quad 204 andETAP hubs.[195] In 2011, the company announced that it is focusing its investment in the UK North Sea into four development projects including the Clair, Devenick,Schiehallion and Loyal, and Kinnoull oilfields.[196] BP is the operator of the Clair oilfield, which has been appraised as the largest hydrocarbon resource in the UK.[197]
There are 1,200 BP service stations in the UK.[198][199] Since 2018 BP operates the UK's largestelectric vehicle charging network through its subsidiaryBP Pulse (formerly Chargemaster).[6]
In February 2020, BP announced a Joint Venture withEnBW to develop and operate 3GW off Offshore Wind capacity in theCrown Estate Leasing Round 4.[200] This is BP's first move intoBritain's Offshore wind market, however, BP currently provides a range of services to the Offshore Wind sector in the UK through its subsidiary ONYX InSight who provide a range ofPredictive Maintenance and Engineering Consultancy services to the sector.[201]
In February 2022, BP announced it acquired a 30% stake in theLondon-based company, Green Biofuels Ltd, a producer ofrenewable hydrogenated vegetable oil fuels that can be used as a direct replacement for diesel.[202]
The United States operations comprise nearly one-third of BP's operations.[203] BP employs approximately 14,000 people in the United States.[204] In 2018, BP's total production in the United States included 385,000 barrels per day (61,200 m3/d) of oil and 1.9 billion cubic feet per day (54 million cubic metres per day) of natural gas,[205] and its refinery throughput was 703,000 barrels per day (111,800 m3/d).[206]
BP's major subsidiary in the United States is BP America, Inc. (formerly: Standard Oil Company (Ohio) andSohio) based inHouston, Texas.[207] BP Exploration & Production Inc., a 1996 established Houston-based subsidiary, is dealing with oil exploration and production.[208] BP Corporation North America, Inc., provides petroleum refining services as also transportation fuel, heat and light energy.[209] BP Products North America, Inc., a 1954 established Houston-based subsidiary, is engaged in the exploration, development, production, refining, and marketing of oil and natural gas.[210] BP America Production Company, aNew Mexico-based subsidiary, engages in oil and gas exploration and development.[211] BP Energy Company, a Houston-based subsidiary, is a provider of natural gas, power, and risk management services to the industrial and utility sectors and a retail electric provider in Texas.[212]
As of 2019[update], BP produced about 300,000 barrels per day (48,000 m3/d) of oil equivalent in theGulf of Mexico.[219] BP operates theAtlantis,Mad Dog, Na Kika, andThunder Horse production platforms while holding interest in hubs operated by other companies.[220][221] In April 2023, BP launched a new oil rig, theArgos, in the Gulf.[222]
BP operates nine onshorewind farms in six states, and held an interest in another inHawaii with a net generating capacity of 1,679 MW.[227] These wind farms include theCedar Creek 2,Titan 1, Goshen North,Flat Ridge 1 and 2, Mehoopany,Fowler Ridge 1, 2 and 3 and Auwahi wind farms.[228] It is also in process to acquire 50% non-operating stake in the Empire Wind off New York and Beacon Wind off Massachusetts offshore wind farms.[167]
In Egypt, BP produces approximately 15% of the country's total oil production and 40% of its domestic gas.[229] The company also has offshore gas developments in the East Nile Delta Mediterranean, and in the West Nile Delta,[230] where the company has a joint investment of US$9 billion withWintershall Dea to develop North Alexandria and West Mediterranean concessions offshore gas fields.[231][232]
BP is active in offshore oil development in Angola, where it holds an interest in a total of nine oil exploration and production blocks covering more than 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi). This includes four blocks it acquired in December 2011 and an additional block that is operated by Brazilian national oil company,Petrobras, in which it holds a 40% stake.[233]
BP has a stake in exploration of two blocks of offshore deepwater assets in the South China Sea.[234][235]
In India, BP owns a 30% share of oil and gas assets operated byReliance Industries, including exploration and production rights in more than 20 offshore oil and gas blocks, representing an investment of more than US$7 billion into oil and gas exploration in the country.[236]
BP has major liquefied natural gas activities in Indonesia, where it operates theTangguh LNG project, which began production in 2009 and has a capacity of 7.6 million tonnes of liquid natural gas per year.[237] Also in that country, the company has invested in the exploration and development ofcoalbed methane.[238]
BP operates in Iraq as part of the joint ventureRumaila Operating Organization in theRumaila oil field, the world's fourth largest oilfield, where it produced over 1 million barrels per day (160×10^3 m3/d) of oil equivalent in 2011.[239][240] A BBC investigation found in 2022 that waste-gas was being burned as close as 350 meters from people's homes. A leaked report fromMinistry of Health (Iraq) blamed air pollution for 20% rise incancer inBasra between 2015 and 2018.[241] The Iraqi Ministry of Health has banned its employees from speaking about the health damage.[241] Iraqi Environment Minister Jassem al-Falahi later admitted that "pollution from oil production is the main reason for increases in local cancer rates."[242]
In Oman, BP currently has a 60% participation interest in Block 61. Block 61 is one of Oman's largest gas blocks with a daily production capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas and more than 65,000 barrels of condensate. It covers around 3,950 km in central Oman and contains the largest tight gas development in the Middle East. On 1 February 2021, BP inked a deal to sell 20% participating interest in Block 61 to Thailand'sPTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd. (PTTEP) for a total of $2.6 billion. Upon closure of the sale, the BP will remain the block's operator with a 40% interest.[243][244]
Prior to March 2021, BP operated theKwinana refinery inWestern Australia, which was the country's largest refinery,[245] supplying about 70% of Western Australia's fuel needs. The former refinery, located onCockburn Sound, wasconverted to an import terminal and, as of 2025[update], was transitioning into abiorefinery and green hydrogen production facility.[246]
BP is a non-operating joint venture partner in theNorth West Shelf, which produces LNG, pipeline gas, condensate and oil.[247] The NWS venture is Australia's largest resource development and accounts for around one third of Australia's oil and gas production.[248][249]
A GDH (subsidiary of BP) oil depot, Frontigan, Hérault, France
BP's refining operations in continental Europe include Europe's second-largest oil refinery, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which can process up to 377,000 barrels (59,900 m3) of crude oil per day.[254] Other facilities are located in Ingolstadt, Gelsenkirchen and Lingen, in Germany, as well as one in Castellón, Spain.[255]
In addition to its offshore operations in the British zone of North Sea, BP has interests in the Norwegian section of the sea through its stake in Aker BP. As of December 2018[update], BP holds a 19.75% stake in Russia's state-controlled oil company Rosneft.[133][135][256]
Retail operations of motor vehicle fuels in Europe are present in the United Kingdom, France, Germany (through the Aral brand), the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Greece and Turkey.[257][258][259]
BP's Canadian operations are headquartered inCalgary and the company operates primarily inNewfoundland.[260] It purchases crude oil for the company's refineries in the United States, and has a 35 per cent stake in the undeveloped Bay du Nord project and three offshore exploration block inNewfoundland.[261]
In Brazil, BP holds stakes in offshore oil and gas exploration in the Barreirinhas, Ceará andCampos basins, in addition to onshore processing facilities.[263] BP also operates biofuel production facilities in Brazil, including three cane sugar mills for ethanol production.[264][265]
BP operated in Singapore until 2004 when it sold its retail network of 28 stations and LPG business toSingapore Petroleum Company (SPC). It also sold its 50% in SPC.[266]
BP Upstream's activities include exploring for new oil and natural gas resources, developing access to such resources, and producing, transporting, storing and processing oil and natural gas.[268][269] The activities in this area of operations take place in 25 countries worldwide. In 2018, BP produced around 3.7 million barrels per day (590×10^3 m3/d) of oil equivalent,[6] of which 2.191 million barrels per day (348.3×10^3 m3/d) were liquids and 8.659 billion cubic feet per day (245.2 million cubic metres per day) was natural gas, and had total proved reserves of 19,945 million barrels (3,171.0×10^6 m3) of oil equivalent, of which liquids accounted 11,456 million barrels (1,821.4×10^6 m3) barrels and natural gas 49.239 trillion cubic feet (1.3943 trillion cubic metres).[270] In addition to the conventional oil exploration and production, BP has a stake in the three oil sands projects in Canada.[116][271]
BP had plans to drop its oil and gas production to fall by at least one million barrels a day by 2030, a 40% reduction on 2019 levels, but this was scrapped in October 2024, with plans for an increase in production instead.[272][273]
BP downstream's activities include the refining, marketing, manufacturing, transportation, trading and supply ofcrude oil andpetroleum products.[268] Downstream is responsible for BP's fuels and lubricants businesses, and has major operations located in Europe, North America and Asia.[274] As of 2018, BP owned or had a share in 11 refineries.[206]
BP, which employs about 1,800 people in oil trading and trades over 5 million barrels per day (790×10^3 m3/d) of oil and refined products, is the world's third-biggest oil trader afterRoyal Dutch Shell andVitol.[275] The operation is estimated to be able to generate over $1 billion trading profits in a good year.[275]
Air BP is the aviation division of BP, providingaviation fuel, lubricants & services. It has operations in over 50 countries worldwide.BP Shipping provides the logistics to move BP's oil and gas cargoes to market, as well as marine structural assurance.[276] It manages a large fleet of vessels most of which are held on long-term operating leases. BP Shipping's chartering teams based in London, Singapore, and Chicago also charter third party vessels on both time charter and voyage charter basis. The BP-managed fleet consists ofVery Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), one North Sea shuttle tanker, medium size crude and product carriers,liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers,liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, and coasters. All of these ships are double-hulled.[277]
BP has around 18,700 service stations worldwide.[6] Its flagship retail brand is BP Connect, a chain of service stations combined with a convenience store,[278] although in the US it is gradually being transitioned to theampm format. BP also owns half of Kentucky-based convenience store companyThorntons LLC with ArcLight Capital Partners (who own the Gulf brand in the United States) since 2019. On 13 July 2021, BP announced it will take acquire ArcLight Capital Partners' share of Thorntons, and thus fully own the convenience store company. The deal is expected to close later in the year.[279] In Germany and Luxembourg, BP operates service stations under theAral brand.[98] On the US West Coast, in the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah, BP primarily operates service stations under the ARCO brand.[280] In Australia BP operates a number of BP Travel Centres, large-scale destination sites located which, in addition to the usual facilities in a BP Connect site, also feature food-retail tenants such asMcDonald's,KFC andNando's and facilities for long-haul truck drivers.[281]
A BP photovoltaic (PV) module that is composed of multiple PV cells. Two or more interconnected PV modules create an array.TheFowler Ridge Wind Farm
BP's public rhetoric and pledges emphasise that the company is shifting towards climate-friendly, low-carbon and transition strategies. However, a 2022 study found that the company's spending on clean energy was insignificant and opaque, with little to suggest that the company's discourse matched its actions.[283]
BP was the first ofsupermajors to say that it would focus on energy sources other than fossil fuels.[150] It established analternative and low carbon energy business in 2005. According to the company, it spent a total of $8.3 billion in renewable energy projects including solar, wind, andbiofuels, and non-renewable projects includingnatural gas andhydrogen power, through completion in 2013.[284][285][286] The relatively small size of BP's alternative energy operations has led to allegations ofgreenwashing byGreenpeace,[287]Mother Jones,[288] and energy analyst and activistAntonia Juhasz,[289] among others.[290] In 2018, the CEO Bob Dudley said that out of the company's total spending of $15 to $17 billion per year, about $500 million will be invested in low-carbon energy and technology.[291] In August 2020, BP promised to increase its annual low carbon investments to $5 billion by 2030.[273] The company announced plans to transform into an integrated energy company, with a renewed focus on investing away from oil and into low-carbon technologies.[292] It has set targets to have a renewables portfolio of 20 GW by 2025, and 50 GW by 2030.[293]
BP operates nine wind farms in seven states of the U.S., and held an interest in another inHawaii with a net generating capacity of 1,679 MW.[227] It is also in process to acquire 50% non-operating stake in the Empire Wind off New York and Beacon Wind off Massachusetts offshore wind farms.[167] BP andTesla, Inc. are cooperating for testing the energy storage by battery at the Titan 1 wind farm.[294] BP Launchpad has also invested in ONYX InSight, one of the leading providers of predictive analytic solutions serving the wind industry.[295]
In Brazil, BP owns two ethanol producers—Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool andTropical BioEnergia—with three ethanol mills.[265] These mills produce around 800,000 cubic metres per annum (5,000,000 bbl/a) of ethanol equivalent.[296] BP has invested in an agricultural biotechnology company Chromatin, a company developing crops that can grow on marginal land and that are optimized to be used as feedstock for biofuel.[297] Its joint venture with DuPont called Butamax, which has developed the patented bio-butanol-producing technology,[298] and owns an isobutanol plant inScandia, Kansas, United States.[152] In addition BP owns biomethane production facilities inCanton, Michigan, and North Shelby, Tennessee, as well as share of facilities under construction inOklahoma City andAtlanta.[151] BP's subsidiary Air BP supplies aviation biofuel atOslo,Halmstad, andBergen airports.[299]
BP owns a 43% stake inLightsource BP, a company which focuses on the managing and maintainingsolar farms. As of 2017[update], Lightsource has commissioned 1.3 GW of solar capacity and manages about 2 GW of solar capacity. It plans to increase the capacity up to 8 GW through projects in the United States, India, Europe and the Middle East.[149][150] BP has invested $20 million in Israeli quick-charging battery firm StoreDot Ltd.[300] It operates electric vehicle charging networks in the UK under its subsidiaryBP Chargemaster, and in China via a joint venture withDidi Chuxing.[157]
In partnership withØrsted A/S, BP plans a 50 MVelectrolyser at the Lingen refinery to produce hydrogen using North Sea wind power. Production is expected to begin in 2024.[301]
BP is a majority shareholder in carbon offset developer Finite Carbon,[168] and acquired 9 GW of US solar projects in 2021.[302]
In 2023, following the announcement of record profits, the company scaled back their emissions targets. Originally, the company promised a 35-40% cut of emissions by the end of the decade. On 7 February, BP revised the target to a 20-30% cut in emissions, stating that it needed to keep up with the current demands for oil and gas.[303]
The company's shares are primarily traded on the London Stock Exchange, but also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany. In the United States shares are traded in US$ on the New York Stock Exchange in the form ofAmerican depository shares (ADS). One ADS represents six ordinary shares.[311]
In the first quarter of 2001 the company adopted the marketing name of BP, and replaced its "Green Shield" logo with the "Helios" symbol, a green and yellow sunflower logo named after theGreek sun god and designed to represent energy in its many forms. BP introduced a new corporate slogan – "Beyond Petroleum" along with a $200M advertising and marketing campaign.[313][314] According to the company, the new slogan represented their focus on meeting the growing demand for fossil fuels, manufacturing and delivering more advanced products, and to enable transitioning to a lower carbon footprint.[315]
By 2008, BP's branding campaign had succeeded with the culmination of a 2007 Effie Award from theAmerican Marketing Association, and consumers had the impression that BP was one of the greenest petroleum companies in the world.[316] BP was criticised by environmentalists and marketing experts, who stated that the company's alternative energy activities were only a fraction of the company's business at the time.[317] According toDemocracy Now, BP's marketing campaign amounted to a deceptivegreenwashing public-relationsspin campaign given that BP's 2008 budget included more than $20 billion for fossil fuel investment and less than $1.5 billion for all alternative forms of energy.[318][319] Oil and energy analystAntonia Juhasz notes BP's investment in green technologies peaked at 4% of its exploratory budget prior to cutbacks, including the discontinuation of BP Solar and the closure of its alternative energy headquarters in London.[137][318] According to Juhasz, "four percent...hardly qualifies the company to be Beyond Petroleum", citing BP's "aggressive modes of production, whether it's the tar sands [or] offshore".[318]
BP attained a negative public image from the series of industrial accidents that occurred through the 2000s, and its public image was severely damaged after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and Gulf Oil spill. In the immediate aftermath of the spill,BP initially downplayed the severity of the incident, and made many of the same PR errors that Exxon had made after theExxon Valdez disaster.[320][321] CEO Tony Hayward was criticised for his statements and had committed several gaffes, including stating that he "wanted his life back."[322] Some in the media commended BP for some of its social media efforts, such as the use of Twitter and Facebook as well as a section of the company's website where it communicated its efforts to clean up the spill.[323][324][325]
In February 2012 BP North America launched a $500 million branding campaign to rebuild its brand.[326]
The company's advertising budget was about $5 million per week during the four-month spill in the Gulf of Mexico, totalling nearly $100 million.[327][328]
In May 2012, BP tasked a press office staff member to openly join discussions on the Wikipedia article's talk page and suggest content to be posted by other editors.[329] Controversy emerged in 2013 over the amount of content from BP that had entered this article.[330][331] Wikipedia co-founderJimmy Wales stated that, by identifying himself as a BP staff member, the contributor in question had complied with site policy regarding conflicts of interest.[330]
Investigative journalism byBBC Panorama and Africa Eye aired in June 2019 criticising BP for the way in which it had obtained the development rights of Cayar Offshore Profond and St. Louis Offshore Profond blocks, off the coast ofSenegal in 2017. In 2012, aFrank Timiș company, Petro-Tim, though previously unknown to the oil industry, was awarded a license to explore the blocks despite having no known record in the industry. Soon after, Aliou Sall, brother of Senegal's president,Macky Sall, was hired at the company, implying a conflict of interest,[332] causing public outrage in Senegal. The 2019 program by BBC Panorama and Africa Eye accuses BP of a failure indue diligence when it agreed on a deal with Timis Corporation in 2017. The deal by BP is expected to provide substantial royalties to Frank Timiș despite accusations of initially obtaining the exploration rights through corruption.Kosmos Energy was also implicated.[333] BP refutes any implications of improper conduct. Regarding the acquisition of Timis Corporation interests in Senegal in April 2017, BP states that it "paid what it considered a fair market value for the interests at this stage of exploration/development". However, BP has not made public what was the basis of the valuation, and states that "the details of the deal are confidential".[334] BP argues that "the amount which would be paid separately by BP to Timis Corporation would be less than one percent of what the Republic of Senegal would receive". Senegal's justice ministry has called an inquiry into the energy contracts.[332]
In 2014, BP backed a global study researching challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and for ways that companies can be a "force for change" for LGBT workers around the world.[335] In 2015,Reuters wrote that BP is "known for their more liberal policies for gay and transgender workers".[336] A 2016 article in theHouston Chronicle said BP was "among the first major companies in the United States to offer LGBT workers equal protection and benefits roughly 20 years ago".[337] BP scored a 100% on the 2018 Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which was released in 2017, although this was the most common score.[338] Also in 2017, BP added gender reassignment surgery to its list of benefits for U.S. employees.[339] According to the Human Rights Campaign, BP is one of only a few oil and gas companies offering transgender benefits to its employees.[339] BP ranked No. 51 on the list of Top 100 employers for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff on the 2017 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.[340] Also in 2017, John Mingé, chairman and president of BP America, signed a letter alongside other Houston oil executives denouncing the proposed "bathroom bill" in Texas.[341]
Prior to 1997, BP was a member of theGlobal Climate Coalition, an industry organisation established to promoteglobal warming scepticism, but withdrew in 1997, saying "the time to consider the policy dimensions ofclimate change is not when the link betweengreenhouse gases and climate change is conclusively proven, but when the possibility cannot be discounted and is taken seriously by the society of which we are part. We in BP have reached that point.".[342][343] BP was distinguished as the first multinational outside of the reinsurance industry to publicly support thescientific consensus on climate change, whichPew Center on Global Climate Change presidentEileen Claussen then described as a transformative moment on the issue.[344] In March 2002, Lord John Browne, the group chief executive of BP that time, declared in a speech thatglobal warming was real and that urgent action was needed.[345] Notwithstanding this, from 1988 to 2015 BP was responsible for 1.53% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions.[12] In 2015, BP was listed by the UK-based non-profit organisation Influence Map as the fiercest opponent of action on climate change in Europe.[346] In 2018, BP was the largest contributor to the campaign opposingcarbon fee initiative 1631 in Washington State.[347] Robert Allendorfer, manager of BP's Cherry Point refinery, wrote the following in a letter to state lawmakers: "[Initiative 1631] would exempt six of the ten largest stationary source emitters in the state, including a coal-fired power plant, an aluminum smelter, and a number of pulp and paper plants."[348] According to a 2019Guardian ranking, BP was the 6th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.[349]
In February 2020, BP set a goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. BP is seekingnet-zerocarbon emissions across its operations and the fuels the company sells, including emissions from cars, homes, and factories.[160][350][351] Details on the scope of this and how this will be achieved are publicly limited.[352] BP said that it is restructuring its operations into four business groups to meet these goals: production and operations; customers and products; gas and low carbon; and innovation and engineering.[160] The company discontinued involvement withAmerican Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers,Western States Petroleum Association, and Western Energy Alliance, involved in lobbying government within the United States, because of differences of position on the issue of methane and carbon policies, as a development of this new commitment.[353][354] However, an investigation conducted by Unearthed, an investigations unit ofGreenpeace UK, andHuffPost unveiled eight anti-climate trade associations BP failed to disclose, including Alliance of Western Energy Consumers,Texas Oil and Gas Association,Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, and theBusiness Council of Australia, among others.[355]
In August 2020, BP America's chairman David Lawler criticised elimination of federal requirements to install equipment to detect and fixmethane leaks by saying that "direct federal regulation ofmethane emissions is essential to preventing leaks throughout the industry and protecting the environment."[356] BP is also a founding member ofMethane Guiding Principles, an industry consortium that aims to drive methane reductions throughout the global energy supply chain.[357]
In BP's Energy Outlook 2020, BP stated that the changing energy landscape coupled with theeconomic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic means that the global crude demandwill never again surpass 2019's average. All three scenarios in the outlook see the consumption of coal, oil, and natural gas dropping while the role of renewable energy will soar. BP was also attempting to move from being an international oil company into becoming an integrated energy company that would focus on low-carbon technologies while also setting a target to reduce its overall oil and gas production by 40% by 2030.[358] This plan was scrapped in October 2024, with BP looking to increase its oil and gas production instead.[272]
In 2021, BP was ranked as the 5th most environmentally responsible company out of 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle in the Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI).[359]
In December 2022,U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee ChairCarolyn Maloney andU.S. House Oversight Environment Subcommittee ChairRo Khanna sent a memorandum to all House Oversight and Reform Committee members summarizing additional findings from the Committee's investigation into the fossil fuel industry disinformation campaign to obscure the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming, and that upon reviewing internal company documents, accused BP along withExxonMobil,Chevron, andShell ofgreenwashing theirParis Agreementcarbon neutrality pledges while continuing long-term investment in fossil fuel production and sales, for engaging in a campaign to promote the use of natural gas as a clean energy source and bridge fuel to renewable energy, and of intimidating journalists reporting about the companies' climate actions and of obstructing the Committee's investigation.[360][361][362]
After initially pledging to reduce its emissions by 35% by 2030, BP stated in 2023 that it would aim for a 20-30% reduction instead.[363] Following pressure to boost profits from a group of shareholders includingElliott Management, in February 2025 the company announced plans to significantly reduce its investment in renewable energy, whilst increasing that in oil and gas production by 20%. Some other shareholders raised concerns over the enhanced focus on fossil fuels, which was also critised by various environmental groups.[364]
In a 2016 study, conducted byIndra Øverland ofNorwegian Institute of International Affairs BP was ranked 15th out of 18 levels (in total 37th out of 92 oil, gas and mining companies) on indigenous rights and resource extraction in the Arctic. The ranking of companies took into account 20 criteria, such as the companies' commitments to international standards, the presence of organisational units dedicated to handling indigenous rights, competent staffing, track records on indigenous issues, transparency, and procedures for consulting with indigenous peoples, but the actual performance of companies on indigenous rights was not assessed.[365]
In September 1999, one of BP's US subsidiaries, BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA), pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from its illegally dumping of hazardous wastes on theAlaska North Slope, paying fines and penalties totalling $22 million. BP paid the maximum $500,000 in criminal fines, $6.5 million in civil penalties, and established a $15 million environmental management system at all of BP facilities in the US and Gulf of Mexico that are engaged in oil exploration, drilling or production. The charges stemmed from the 1993 to 1995 dumping of hazardous wastes onEndicott Island, Alaska by BP's contractor Doyon Drilling. The firm illegally dischargedwaste oil, paint thinner and other toxic and hazardous substances by injecting them down the outer rim, or annuli, of the oil wells. BPXA failed to report the illegal injections when it learned of the conduct, in violation of theComprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.[366]
In 2000, BP Amoco acquired ARCO, a Los Angeles-based oil group.[89]In 2003, California'sSouth Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) filed a complaint against BP/ARCO, seeking $319 million in penalties for thousands of air pollution violations over an 8-year period.[367] In January 2005, the agency filed a second suit against BP based on violations between August 2002 and October 2004. The suit alleged that BP illegally released air pollutants by failing to adequately inspect, maintain, repair and properly operate thousands of pieces of equipment across the refinery as required by AQMD regulations. It was alleged that in some cases the violations were due to negligence, while in others the violations were knowingly and willfully committed by refinery officials.[368] In 2005, a settlement was reached under which BP agreed to pay $25 million in cash penalties and $6 million in past emissions fees, while spending $20 million on environmental improvements at the refinery and $30 million on community programs focused on asthma diagnosis and treatment.[369]
In 2013, a total of 474Galveston County residents living near the BP Texas City Refinery filed a $1 billion lawsuit against BP, accusing the company of "intentionally misleading the public about the seriousness" of a two-week release of toxic fumes which began on 10 November 2011. "BP reportedly released Sulfur Dioxide, Methyl Carpaptan, Dimethyl Disulfide and other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere" reads the report. The lawsuit further claims Galveston county has the worst air quality in the United States due to BP's violations of air pollution laws. BP had no comment and said it would address the suit in the court system.[370][371][372][373]
In 2006, a group ofColombian farmers reached a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement with BP for alleged environmental damage caused by theOcensa pipeline.[374] The company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect the 450-mile (720 km) Ocensa pipeline; BP said throughout that it has acted responsibly and that landowners were fairly compensated.[375]
In 2009, another group of 95 Colombian farmers filed a suit against BP, saying the company's Ocensa pipeline caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, affecting crops, livestock, and contaminating water supplies, making fish ponds unsustainable. Most of the land traversed by the pipeline was owned by peasant farmers who were illiterate and unable to read the environmental impact assessment conducted by BP prior to construction, which acknowledged significant and widespread risks of damage to the land.[376] TheSupreme Court of Justice of Colombia handed down a judgement rejecting the case in August 2016.[377]
Since 2007, BP has been involved in oil sands projects,[378] which Greenpeace has called a climate crime.[379] Members of Canada'sFirst Nations have criticised BP's involvement for the impacts oil sands extraction has on the environment.[380] In 2010, BP pledged to use onlyin-situ technologies instead of open-pit mining.[381] It usessteam-assisted gravity drainagein-situ technology to extractbitumen.[382] According to Greenpeace it is even more damaging to climate because while according to thePembina Institutein-situ techniques result in lowernitrogen oxide emissions, and are less damaging to the landscape and rivers, they cause more greenhouse gas andsulphur dioxide emissions than mining.[381] In 2010, activist shareholders asked BP for a full investigation of the Sunrise oil sands project, but were defeated.[381][383] In 2013, shareholders criticised the project for beingcarbon-intensive.[384]
Citing conditions similar to those that resulted in the 2005Texas City refinery explosion, on 25 April 2006, the U.S. Department of Labor'sOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined BP more than $2.4 million for unsafe operations at the company'sOregon, Ohio refinery. An OSHA inspection resulted in 32 per-instance wilful citations including locating people in vulnerable buildings among the processing units, failing to correct depressurisation deficiencies and deficiencies with gas monitors, and failing to prevent the use of non-approved electrical equipment in locations in which hazardous concentrations of flammable gases or vapours may exist. BP was further fined for neglecting to develop shutdown procedures and designate responsibilities and to establish a system to promptly address and resolve recommendations made after an incident when a large feed pump failed three years prior to 2006. Penalties were also issued for five serious violations, including failure to develop operating procedures for a unit that removes sulphur compound; failure to ensure that operating procedures reflect current operating practice in the Isocracker Unit; failure to resolve process hazard analysis recommendations; failure to resolve process safety management compliance audit items in a timely manner; and failure to periodically inspect pressure piping systems.[385][386]
In 2008, BP and several other major oil refiners agreed to pay $422 million to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from water contamination tied to the gasoline additiveMTBE, a chemical that was once a key gasoline ingredient. Leaked from storage tanks, MTBE has been found in several water systems across the United States. The plaintiffs maintain that the industry knew about the environmental dangers but that they used it instead of other possible alternatives because it was less expensive. The companies will also be required to pay 70% of cleanup costs for any wells newly affected at any time over the next 30 years.[387][388]
BP has one of the worst safety records of any major oil company that operates in the United States. Between 2007 and 2010, BP refineries in Ohio and Texas accounted for 97% of "egregious, willful" violations handed out by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). BP had 760 "egregious, willful" violations during that period, while Sunoco and Conoco-Phillips each had eight, Citgo two and Exxon had one.[389] The deputy assistant secretary of labour at OSHA, said "The only thing you can conclude is that BP has a serious, systemic safety problem in their company."[390]
A report inProPublica, published inThe Washington Post'' in 2010, found that over a decade of internal investigations of BP's Alaska operations during the 2000s warned senior BP managers that the company repeatedly disregarded safety and environmental rules and risked a serious accident if it did not change its ways. ProPublica found that "Taken together, these documents portray a company that systemically ignored its own safety policies across its North American operations – from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico to California and Texas. Executives were not held accountable for the failures, and some were promoted despite them."[391]
TheProject On Government Oversight, an independent non-profit organisation in the United States which investigates and seeks to expose corruption and other misconduct, lists BP as number one on their listing of the 100 worst corporations based on instances of misconduct.[392]
In December 1965, Britain's first oil rig, Sea Gem, capsized when two of the legs collapsed during an operation to move it to a new location. The oil rig had been hastily converted in an effort to quickly start drilling operations after theNorth Sea was opened for exploration. Thirteen crew members were killed. No hydrocarbons were released in the accident.[393][394]
The formerAmoco oil refinery atTexas City, Texas, was beset by environmental issues, including chemical leaks and a 2005 explosion that killed 15 people and injured hundreds.Bloomberg News described the incident, which led to a guilty plea by BP to a felonyClean Air Act charge, as "one of the deadliest U.S. industrial accidents in 20 years." The refinery was sold toMarathon Petroleum in October 2012.[395]
Fire-extinguishing operations after the Texas City refinery explosion
In March 2005, the Texas City refinery, one of the largest refineries owned then by BP, exploded causing 15 deaths, injuring 180 people and forcing thousands of nearby residents to remain sheltered in their homes.[396] A 20-foot (6.1 m) column filled with hydrocarbon overflowed to form a vapour cloud, which ignited. The explosion caused all the casualties and substantial damage to the rest of the plant.[397] The incident came as the culmination of a series of less serious accidents at the refinery, and the engineering problems were not addressed by the management. Maintenance and safety at the plant had been cut as a cost-saving measure, the responsibility ultimately resting with executives in London.[398]
The fallout from the accident clouded BP's corporate image because of the mismanagement at the plant. There had been several investigations of the disaster, the most recent being that from theUS Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board[399] which "offered a scathing assessment of the company." OSHA found "organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation" and said management failures could be traced from Texas to London.[396] The company pleaded guilty to afelony violation of theClean Air Act, was fined $50 million, the largest ever assessed under the Clean Air Act, and sentenced to three years probation.[400]
On 30 October 2009, the USOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined BP an additional $87 million, the largest fine in OSHA history, for failing to correct safety hazards documented in the 2005 explosion. Inspectors found 270 safety violations that had been cited but not fixed and 439 new violations. BP appealed the fine.[396][401] In July 2012, the company agreed to pay $13 million to settle the new violations. At that time OSHA found "no imminent dangers" at the Texas plant. Thirty violations remained under discussion.[402] In March 2012, US Department of Justice officials said the company had met all of its obligations and subsequently ended the probationary period.[403] In November 2011, BP agreed to pay the state of Texas $50 million for violating state emissions standards at its Texas City refinery during and after the 2005 explosion at the refinery. The state Attorney General said BP was responsible for 72 separate pollutant emissions that have been occurring every few months since March 2005. It was the largest fine ever imposed under the Texas Clean Air Act.[404][405]
In 2007, 143 workers at the Texas City refinery claimed that they were injured when a toxic substance was released at the plant. In December 2009, after a three-week trial, a federal jury in Galveston awarded ten of those workers $10 million each in punitive damages, in addition to smaller damages for medical expenses and pain and suffering. The plant had a history of chemical releases.[406] In March 2010, the federal judge hearing the case reduced the jury's award to less than $500,000. U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt said the plaintiffs failed to prove BP was grossly negligent.[407]
In August 2010, the Texas Attorney General charged BP with illegally emitting harmful air pollutants from itsTexas City refinery for more than a month.BP has admitted that malfunctioning equipment led to the release of over 530,000 pounds (240,000 kg) of chemicals into the air of Texas City and surrounding areas from 6 April to 16 May 2010. The leak included 17,000 pounds (7,700 kg) ofbenzene, 37,000 pounds (17,000 kg) ofnitrogen oxides, and 186,000 pounds (84,000 kg) ofcarbon monoxide. The State's investigation showed that BP's failure to properly maintain its equipment caused the malfunction. When the equipment malfunctioned and caught fire, BP workers shut it down and routed escaping gases to flares. Rather than shut down associated units while compressor repairs were made, BP chose to keep operating those other units, which led to unlawful release of contaminants for almost 40 days. The Attorney General is seeking civil penalties of no less than $50 nor greater than $25,000 per day of each violation of state air quality laws, as well as attorneys' fees and investigative costs.[405][408][409]
In June 2012, over 50,000 Texas City residents joined a class-action suit against BP, alleging they became sick in 2010 as a result of the emissions release from the refinery. BP said the release harmed no one.[410] In October 2013, a trial designed as a test for a larger suit that includes 45,000 people found that BP was negligent in the case, but due to the lack of substantial evidence linking illness to the emissions, decided the company would be absolved of any wrongdoing.[411][412]
In March 2006, corrosion of a BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA) oil transit pipeline inPrudhoe Bay transporting oil to theTrans-Alaska Pipeline led to a five-day leak and the largest oil spill onAlaska's North Slope.[13] According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), a total of 212,252 US gallons (5,053.6 bbl; 803.46 m3) of oil was spilled, covering 2 acres (0.81 ha) of the North Slope.[413] BP admitted that cost-cutting measures had resulted in a lapse in monitoring and maintenance of the pipeline and the consequent leak. At the moment of the leak,pipeline inspection gauges (known as "pigs") had not been run through the pipeline since 1998.[414][415][416][417] BP completed the clean-up of the spill by May 2006, including removal of contaminated gravel and vegetation, which was replaced with new material from the Arctic tundra.[413][418]
Following the spill, the company was ordered by regulators to inspect the 35 kilometres (22 mi) of pipelines in Prudhoe Bay using "smart pigs".[419] In late July 2006, the "smart pigs" monitoring the pipelines found 16 places where corrosion had thinned pipeline walls. A BP crew sent to inspect the pipe in early August discovered a leak and small spill,[419][420] following which, BP announced that the eastern portion of the Alaskan field would be shut down for repairs on the pipeline,[420][421] with approval from theDepartment of Transportation. The shutdown resulted in a reduction of 200,000 barrels per day (32,000 m3/d) until work began to bring the eastern field to full production on 2 October 2006.[422] In total, 23 barrels (3.7 m3) of oil were spilled and 176 barrels (28.0 m3) were "contained and recovered", according to ADEC. The spill was cleaned up and there was no impact upon wildlife.[423]
After the shutdown, BP pledged to replace 26 kilometres (16 mi) of its Alaskan oil transit pipelines[424][425] and the company completed work on the 16 miles (26 km) of new pipeline by the end of 2008.[426] In November 2007, BP Exploration, Alaska pleaded guilty to negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanour under the federalClean Water Act and was fined US$20 million.[427] There was no charge brought for the smaller spill in August 2006 due to BP's quick response and clean-up.[414] On 16 October 2007, ADEC officials reported a "toxic spill" from a BP pipeline in Prudhoe Bay comprising 2,000 US gallons (7,600 L; 1,700 imp gal) of primarilymethanol (methyl alcohol) mixed with crude oil and water, which spilled onto a gravel pad and frozen tundra pond.[428]
In the settlement of a civil suit, in July 2011 investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration determined that the 2006 spills were a result of BPXA's failure to properly inspect and maintain the pipeline to prevent corrosion. The government issued a Corrective Action Order to BP XA that addressed the pipeline's risks and ordered pipeline repair or replacement. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had investigated the extent of the oil spills and oversaw BPXA's cleanup. When BP XA did not fully comply with the terms of the corrective action, a complaint was filed in March 2009 alleging violations of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Pipeline Safety Act. In July 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska entered a consent decree between the United States and BPXA resolving the government's claims. Under the consent decree, BPXA paid a $25 million civil penalty, the largest per-barrel penalty at that time for an oil spill, and agreed to take measures to significantly improve inspection and maintenance of its pipeline infrastructure on the North Slope to reduce the threat of additional oil spills.[429][430]
On 17 September 2008, a small gas leak was discovered and one gas-injection well broached to surface in the area of the Central Azeri platform at theAzeri oilfield, a part of theAzeri–Chirag–Guneshli (ACG) project, in the Azerbaijan sector ofCaspian Sea.[431][432] The platform was shut down and the staff was evacuated.[431] As the West Azeri Platform was being powered by a cable from the Central Azeri Platform, it was also shut down.[433] Production at the West Azeri Platform resumed on 9 October 2008 and at the Central Azeri Platform in December 2008.[434][435] According to leaked US Embassy cables, BP had been "exceptionally circumspect in disseminating information" and showed that BP thought the cause for the blowout was a bad cement job. The cables further said that some of BP's ACG partners complained that the company was so secretive that it was withholding information even from them.[432][436][437]
Santa Barbara County District Attorney sued BP West Coast Products LLC, BP Products North America, Inc., and Atlantic Richfield Company over allegations that the companies violated state laws regarding operating and maintaining motor vehicle fuel underground storage tank laws. BP settled a lawsuit for $14 million. The complaint alleged that BP failed to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale at approximately 780 gas stations in California over a period of ten years and violated other hazardous material and hazardous waste laws. The case settled in November 2016 and was the result of collaboration among the California Attorney General's Office and several district attorney's offices across the state.[438]
Anchor handling tugs combat the fire on theDeepwater Horizon while theUnited States Coast Guard searches for missing crew.Heavy oiling of Bay Jimmy, Plaquemines Parish, 15 September 2010Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) observed in emulsified oil on 29 April 2010
TheDeepwater Horizon oil spill was a major industrial accident on theGulf of Mexico, which killed 11 people and injured 16 others, leaked about 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m3) of oil with plus or minus 10% uncertainty,[14] which makes it the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry,[15][440] and cost to the company more than $65 billion of cleanup costs, charges and penalties.[20][21] On 20 April 2010, the semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rigDeepwater Horizon located in theMacondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexicoexploded after ablowout. After burning for two days, the rig sank. The well was finally capped on 15 July 2010. Of 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m3) of leaked oil 810,000 barrels (34 million US gal; 129,000 m3) was collected or burned while 4.1 million barrels (170 million US gal; 650,000 m3) entered the Gulf waters.[441][442] 1.8 million US gallons (6,800 m3) ofCorexit dispersant was applied.[443][444]
The spill had a strong economic impact on theGulf Coast's economy sectors such as fishing and tourism.[445]
Oil spill caused damages across a range of species and habitats in the Gulf.[446] Researchers say the oil and dispersant mixture, includingPAHs, permeated thefood chain throughzooplankton.[447][448][449] Toxicological effects have been documented inbenthic andpelagic fish,estuarine communities, mammals, birds and turtles, deep-water corals, plankton,foraminifera, and microbial communities. Effects on different populations consist of increased mortality or as sub-lethal impairment on the organisms' ability to forage, reproduce and avoid predators.[446] In 2013, it was reported that dolphins and other marine life continued to die in record numbers with infant dolphins dying at six times the normal rate,[450] and half thedolphins examined in a December 2013 study were seriously ill or dying. BP said the report was "inconclusive as to any causation associated with the spill."[451][452]
Studies in 2013 suggested that as much as one-third of the released oil remains in the gulf. Further research suggested that the oil on the bottom of the seafloor was not degrading.[453] Oil in affected coastal areas increased erosion due to the death of mangrove trees and marsh grass.[454][455][456]
Researchers looking at sediment, seawater, biota, and seafood found toxic compounds in high concentrations that they said was due to the added oil and dispersants.[457] Although Gulf fisheries recovered in 2011,[458] a 2014 study of the effects of the oil spill onbluefin tuna by researchers atStanford University and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published in the journalScience, found that toxins released by the oil spill sent fish into cardiac arrest. The study found that even very low concentrations of crude oil can slow the pace of fish heartbeats. BP disputed the study, which was conducted as part of the federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment process required by the Oil Pollution Act.[459][460] The study also found that oil already broken down by wave action and chemical dispersants was more toxic than fresh oil.[461] Another peer-reviewed study, released in March 2014 and conducted by 17 scientists from the United States and Australia and published inProceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences, found that tuna and amberjack that were exposed to oil from the spill developed deformities of the heart and other organs. BP responded that the concentrations of oil in the study were a level rarely seen in the Gulf, butThe New York Times reported that the BP statement was contradicted by the study.[462]
Research discussed at a 2013 conference included preliminary results of an ongoing study being done by theNational Institute for Environmental Health Sciences indicating that oil spill cleanup workers carrybiomarkers of chemicals contained in the spilled oil and the dispersants used.[463] A separate study is following the health issues of women and children affected by the spill. Several studies found that a "significant percentage" of Gulf residents reported mental health problems such as anxiety, depression andPTSD.[463] According to aColumbia University study investigating the health effects among children living less than 10 miles from the coast, more than a third of the parents report physical or mental health symptoms among their children.[463]
Australia's60 Minutes reported that people living along the gulf coast were becoming sick from the mixture of Corexit and oil.[464]Susan Shaw, of theDeepwater Horizon oil spill Strategic Sciences Working Group, says "BP told the public that Corexit was 'as harmless as Dawn dishwashing liquid'...But BP and the EPA clearly knew about the toxicity of the Corexit long before this spill." According to Shaw, BP's own safety sheet on Corexit says that there are "high and immediate human health hazards".[465] Cleanup workers were not provided safety equipment by the company, and the safety manuals were "rarely if ever" followed, or distributed to workers, according to aNewsweek investigation. The safety manuals read: "Avoid breathing vapor" and "Wear suitable protective clothing."[466][467] Oil clean up workers reported that they were not allowed to use respirators, and that their jobs were threatened if they did.[468][469][470]
A peer-reviewed study published inThe American Journal of Medicine reported significantly altered blood profiles of individuals exposed to the spilled oil and dispersants that put them at increased risk of developing liver cancer, leukemia and other disorders.[471] BP disputed its methodology and said other studies supported its position that dispersants did not create a danger to health.[472]
In 2014, a study was published inProceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences which found heart deformities in fish exposed to oil from the spill. The researchers said that their results probably apply to humans as well as fish.[462]
On 15 December 2010, the Department of Justice filed a civil and criminal suit against BP and other defendants for violations under theClean Water Act in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.[473][474]: 70 The case was consolidated with about 200 others, including those brought by state governments, individuals, and companies under Multi-District Litigation docket MDL No. 2179, before U.S. District JudgeCarl Barbier.[475][476]
In November 2012, BP and theDepartment of Justice reached a $4 billion settlement of all federal criminal charges related to the explosion and spill. Under the settlement, BP agreed to plead guilty to 11 felony counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress and agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics. BP also paid $525 million to settle civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors about the flow rate of oil from the well.[17][477] At the same time, the US government filed criminal charges against three BP employees; two site managers were charged with manslaughter and negligence, and one former vice president with obstruction.[17]
Judge Barbier ruled in the first phase of the case that BP had committed gross negligence and that "its employees took risks that led to the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history." He apportioned fault at 67% for BP, 30% forTransocean and 3% forHalliburton. Barbier ruled that BP was "reckless" and had acted with "conscious disregard of known risks."[478][479]
In June 2010, after a meeting in the White House between PresidentBarack Obama and BP executives, the president announced that BP would pay $20 billion into atrust fund that will be used to compensate victims of the oil spill. BP also set aside $100 million to compensate oil workers who lost their jobs because of the spill.[480][481]
On 2 March 2012, BP and businesses and residents affected by the spill reached a settlement of roughly 100,000 suits claiming economic losses. BP estimated that the settlement cost more than $9.2 billion.[482][483]
In 2015, BP and five states agreed to an $18.5 billion settlement to be used for Clean Water Act penalties and various claims.[19]
On 20 September 2022, a fire at BP's HuskyToledo refinery caused the death of two workers there. The fire was put out that day, but the refinery remained shut down. The refinery's shutdown was expected to increase American petrol prices.[484] Officials subsequently announced that it would have little impact on prices.[485] The refinery started operating again in April 2023.[486]
BP lobbied the British government to conclude a prisoner-transfer agreement which the Libyan government had wanted to secure the release ofAbdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted for the 1988Lockerbie bombing over Scotland, which killed 270 people. BP stated that it pressed for the conclusion of prisoner transfer agreement amid fears that delays would damage its "commercial interests" and disrupt its £900 million offshore drilling operations in the region, but it said that it had not been involved in negotiations concerning the release of Megrahi.[487][488]
In February 2002, BP's then-chief executive,Lord Browne of Madingley, renounced the practice of corporatecampaign contributions, saying: "That's why we've decided, as a global policy, that from now on we will make no political contributions from corporate funds anywhere in the world."[489] When the Washington Post reported in June 2010 that BP North America "donated at least $4.8 million in corporate contributions in the past seven years to political groups, partisan organizations and campaigns engaged in federal and state elections", mostly to oppose ballot measures in two states aiming to raise taxes on the oil industry, the company said that the commitment had only applied to contributions to individual candidates.[490]
During the 2008 U.S. election cycle, BP employees contributed to various candidates, with Barack Obama receiving the largest amount of money,[491] broadly in line with contributions from Shell and Chevron, but significantly less than those of Exxon Mobil.[492]
In 2009, BP spent nearly $16 millionlobbying theU.S. Congress.[493] In 2011, BP spent a total of $8,430,000 on lobbying and had 47 registered lobbyists.[494]
In 1937,Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), 23.75% owned by BP,[42] signed an oil concession agreement with the Sultan of Muscat. In 1952, IPC offered financial support to raise an armed force that would assist the Sultan in occupying the interior region of Oman, an area that geologists believed to be rich in oil. This led to the 1954 outbreak ofJebel Akhdar War in Oman that lasted for more than five years.[43]
TheUS Justice Department and theCommodity Futures Trading Commission filed charges against BP Products North America Inc. (subsidiary of BP plc) and several BP traders, alleging they conspired to raise the price ofpropane by seeking tocorner the propane market in 2004.[495][496][497] In 2006, one former trader pleaded guilty.[496] In 2007, BP paid $303 million in restitution and fines as part of an agreement to defer prosecution.[498] BP was charged with cornering and manipulating the price of TET propane in 2003 and 2004. BP paid a $125 million civil monetary penalty to the CFTC, established a compliance and ethics program, and installed a monitor to oversee BP's trading activities in the commodities markets. BP also paid $53 million into a restitution fund for victims, a $100 million criminal penalty, plus $25 million into a consumer fraud fund, as well as other payments.[499] Also in 2007, four other former traders were charged. These charges were dismissed by a US District Court in 2009 on the grounds that the transactions were exempt under the Commodities Exchange Act because they didn't occur in a marketplace but were negotiated contracts among sophisticated companies. The dismissal was upheld by theCourt of Appeals for the 5th Circuitin 2011.[497]
In November 2010, US regulatorsFERC andCFTC began an investigation of BP for allegedly manipulating the gas market. The investigation relates to trading activity that occurred in October and November 2008.[500][501] At that time, CFTC Enforcement staff provided BP with a notice of intent to recommend charges of attempted market manipulation in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act. BP denied that it engaged in "any inappropriate or unlawful activity." In July 2011, the FERC staff issued a "Notice of Alleged Violations" saying it had preliminarily determined that several BP entities fraudulently traded physical natural gas in the Houston Ship Channel and Katy markets and trading points to increase the value of their financial swing spread positions.[502]
In May 2013, theEuropean Commission started an investigation into allegations the companies reported distorted prices to the price reporting agencyPlatts, in order to "manipulate the published prices" for several oil and biofuel products.[503][504] The investigation was dropped in December 2015 due to lack of evidence.[505]
Documents from a 2016 bid to drill in the Great Australian Bight revealed claims by BP that a large-scale cleanup operation following a massive oil spill would bring a "welcome boost to local economies."[507] In the same bid BP also stated that a diesel spill would be "socially acceptable" due to a lack of "unresolved stakeholder concerns".[507]
An internal email from mid 2017, was leaked in April 2018 in New Zealand. The email laid out that pricing was to be raised at certain sites in a region around Otaki in order to regain volume lost at that branch.[508] This led to the Government asking the Commerce Commission to investigate regional prices: initial indications were that motorists were paying too much across most of the country.[509]
^"BP.com: History of BP – Post war".Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved3 July 2010.In 1954, the board changed the company's name to The British Petroleum Company
^Tharoor, Ishaan (2 June 2010)."A Brief History of BP".Time. Archived fromthe original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved3 July 2010.In 1954, in an attempt perhaps to move beyond its image as a quasi-colonial enterprise, the company rebranded itself the British Petroleum Company
^abVassiliou, M. S (2009).Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
^Michael Gasson (Former Group Archivist, BP Archive)."Home: The BP Archive".Business History Links: Business Archives. Association of Business Historians. Archived fromthe original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved9 June 2007.
^Thomas, P., "Stakeholders and Strategic Management: The Misappropriation of Discourse", Critical Management Studies Conference, 14–16 July 1999, p. 13. Thomas uses Horton's text as a "real" example portrayingstakeholder theory being put into practice.
^abDas, Anupreeta; Dezember, Ryan; Flynn, Alexis (9 September 2012)."BP in Deal to Sell Some Gulf Fields".The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved10 September 2012.
Companies with headquarters and/or registered office in the UK but no applicable energy operations within the country shown initalics1Ultimate parent company is not UK-based2Integrated in the United States, no generation or supply activities in the UK
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