BP has put all new offshore wind projects on pause as the oil company’s new Chief Executive seeks to focus more heavily on fossil fuels. The Telegraph has more.
Murray Auchincloss, who became permanent head of the business at the start of the year, has also frozen hiring in the offshore wind division.
The move, which was first reported by Reuters, follows investor discontent over the company’s switch to green energy.
However, it is likely to trigger a backlash from climate campaigners who have waged a years-long campaign to push BP into clean energy.
Mr. Auchincloss is seeking to slow down investments in big budget, low-carbon projects, particularly in offshore wind, that are not expected to generate cash for years.
It suggests he is reversing the policies of Bernard Looney, his disgraced predecessor, who tried to move away from fossil fuels before quitting over inappropriate relationships last autumn.
The shift to greener energy has weighed on BP’s shares as returns from renewables shrank, while profits from oil and gas soared. The global recovery from the pandemic and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine both drove prices to new highs.
Mr. Auchincloss and Chief Financial Officer Kate Thomson have prioritised investing in and even acquiring new oil and gas assets, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. onshore shale basins, where BP already has large operations, company sources briefed on the matter said.
Worth reading in full.
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This government has cost the country billions upon billions of pounds due to lockdowns and other covid-related nonsense (PPE, track and trace, eat out to help out, useless gene therapies, etc). This money can never be recouped but something that can be done is to dramatically cut public sector spending.
The non-conservative Tories have expanded the state beyond all recognition and this needs cutting with a scythe. There needs to be a cull of the hundreds of thousands of useless public sector jobs, starting with the DIE managers. If they have a modicum of talent, they may be able to get jobs in the private sector as admin assistants.
Spot on. Unfortunately, this is one of the main reasons that the Tories are hemorrhaging support. Since Mrs. Thatcher was ousted, the spineless, dripping wet majority in the party have never had the cajones to cut back the state nor reform the NHS. It’s taken 30 years for many of them, but more and more of their supporters can see how much the party has let them down.
And so say all of us.
I’m an old school Conservative. Two things I wanted when voting for Bojo.
Won’t be voting this year way things are. Reform – yeah, but Tice is a nobody.
Better to vote Reform and shake thing up than not vote. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about the result. Tice is a smart and competent businessman.
Tice is a “don’t scare the horses” leader: pleasant, easy on the eye and with sound business experience.
Farage, Habib and Widdecombe supply the passion.
Where is the Magic Money Tree when you need it?
Already been stripped bare.
Uprooted indeed
Recession….incoming!
All going to plan for the Davos Deviants. Once this country is in hock to the central bankers we are well and truly Tom Ducked.
Jonathan Lis on Talk Tv via New Culture Forum !! What a leftie Chunt !!…
Then cut spending – reduce the civil service; privatise more of the NHS (overdue anyway); get rid of some benefits; cut overseas aid; stop assistance for migrants?
Go French. Their system works jus fine. Problem – we don’t have the nous to effect the switch and there would be a public sector general strike – “Save our beyond useless NHS” would be the slogan
https://edmhdotme.wpcomstaging.com/why-the-health-service-works-in-france-11-2022/
‘….the scale of the challenge faced by politicians….’
The IFS highlights the symptoms.
The disease is socialist fascism.
The real challenge faced by politicians is, first, to reform themselves:
Get rid of the ‘payroll vote’ by dramatically reducing the size of government, the cabinet, double MPs salaries to improve their calibre and increase their independence. Abolish the House of Lords and set up a professional second revising chamber appointed by an independent commission.
None of this will ever happen so, instead, a system of proportional representation is required. First past the post has run its course.
Oh, and remove parliament from the ‘Palace of Westminster’.
They deserve a modern building of utilitarian design.
“They deserve a modern building of utilitarian design.”
Totally agree. I believe the very large warehouse style building that was once occupied by Staples, the office supplies firm, in that fine place called Stevenage New Town, is empty. Stevenage has great transport links by road and rail, affordable (for the Southeast) housing, great shopping. What more could they wish for?
The British parliamentary system was invented by aristocrats as a way of governing in an aristocratic way. Aristocrats went up against other aristocrats and were elected by people with money or property. As the pressure came on for reform of the voting system (otherwise revolution might ensue), they had to modify it to suit this new, wider franchise. So we still have an aristocratic system that is well past its sell by date perhaps. We also need to be done with the Norman feudalism that is the Royal family. The sovereign still owns everything – you hold the deeds to your house ‘freehold’ (free to hold unless the sovereign decides otherwise). So we are all still serfs working within a Norman invaders rule set.
I suggest PR for MPs, and only 150 of them. An elected revising chamber also of only about 100 members. And perhaps keep the royals but with no powers to approve any legislation whatsoever
Also we should have referendums for all legislation. The people would be the final approvers of laws. The MPs and revising chamber would only advise us. Also that way there would probably be a strong brake on too much legislation because it would take longer to enact because of the delay caused by waiting for referenda approval.
The UK is over £2trillion in debt and November’s debt interest payment was over £7billion so around £80nillion a year, give or take a few billion!
With our levels of debt and ever-increasing public sector, taxes cannot be cut without increasing taxes elsewhere.
So the question for every politician to answer is – What services will you cut to make savings?
A few ideas to get the ball rolling:
Turn the NHS in to a social insurance model and introduce competition
Scrap the Climate Change Act and Net-Zero
Reduce the Civil Service, Johnson promised to get rid of 90,000 of these leaches.
Scrap the public sector pension scheme and replace with a defined contribution scheme
Fulfil the “bonfire of the quangos” the Tories promised to carry out
Socialists always run out of other people’s money.
1997-2009, it was the Red Socialists who did it.
2009-2024, the Blue Socialists have done it.
Now it seems, it’s to be the Red Socialists turn again.
Unless a miracle happens and we get REFORM.