BP pulled down a record annual profit of $27.7 billion in 2022, nearly double its 2021 figure, and will slow its transition to cleaner energy, the oil major announced Tuesday. CEO Bernard Looney credited the global upheaval set off by the Russian war in Ukraine with enabling the massive windfall. Amid brain-breaking war profits and slowing transition away from fossil fuels across the oil and gas sector, BP also indicated it will increase shareholder dividends and buy back $2.75 billion of stock.
BP also said it would increase investments in oil and gas by $1 billion in 2023, the same amount it says it is investing in lower-carbon energy, with an increased focus on biofuels and hydrogen. “If the bulk of your investments remain tied to fossil fuels, and you even plan to increase those investments, you cannot claim to be aligned” with the goals set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, Mark van Baal, founder of activist shareholder group Follow This, told Reuters. (BP: New York Times $, Wall Street Journal $, E&E $, Reuters; Slowed sectoral transition: Axios, Wall Street Journal $)