In February 2020, then-brand-new chief executive Bernard Looney told the world that one of the oldest and biggest oil companies in the world was going to become a net-zero company by 2050. To achieve this, it would slash its oil and gas production by 40% by 2030. Four years and one major crisis later, BP is abandoning not only the original production cut target of 40%, but also a revised, lower target of 25%. BP, in other words, is returning to its roots.
All these developments also made investors think again—about energy transitions and the security of energy supply. It made investors think so much that pro-transition outlets are sounding an alarm about oil companies being unserious about the transition and, worse, unclear about the direction of their business, which should make investors cautious.