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BP is to cut nearly 8,000 jobs in the face of falling profits and rising shareholder concern over its green energy policies.
The company will cut 4,700 roles across its 90,000-strong global workforce and end work with 3,000 contractors as it seeks savings of $2bn (£1.6bn) across the business. Its 15,000-strong UK workforce will be among those hit hard by the cuts.
Murray Auchincloss, BP’s chief executive, has vowed to cut costs by the end of 2026 as part of his drive to boost returns and soothe investor concerns over BP’s net zero strategy.
That strategy had been driven by his predecessor, Bernard Looney who abruptly resigned in September 2023 after failing to disclose relationships with employees.
One of Mr Looney’s first announcements upon being named chief executive was an ambition to make BP net zero by 2050, a highly ambitious plan that involved ramping up investment into green energy. However, investors were lukewarm on the plan and BP’s share price has performed poorly compared to peers in recent years.
Mr Auchincloss has since scaled back aspects of the plan to focus on financial performance.
Last year he said the company needed to go back to its roots – meaning producing more oil and gas to meet rising global demand. In 2023 BP pushed production up by more than 6pc to the equivalent of 2.3m barrels of oil a day and last year predicted its oil production would rise by 2-3pc a year until 2030.
In a memo to staff announcing the job cuts, Mr Auchincloss insisted that BP remained “uniquely positioned to grow value through the energy transition” but added: “That doesn’t give us an automatic right to win. We have to keep improving our competitiveness and moving at the pace of our customers and society.”
BP was unable to say how many UK jobs would be lost. About 6,000 of its 15,000 UK employees work in petrol and service stations and so are unlikely to be affected. The rest are spread between its London offices and its North Sea oil and gas production division.
Mr Auchincloss said in his memo to staff: “I understand and recognise the uncertainty this brings for everyone whose job may be at risk, and also the effect it can have on colleagues and teams.
“We have a range of support available, and please continue to show care for each other, be considerate and keep putting safety first – especially during times of change.”
BP’s workforce has grown dramatically in recent years from 65,000 to 90,000 following a string of takeovers. One of the largest was its purchase of Travel Centres of America in 2023, a fuel forecourt operator employing around 20,000 staff across 300 service stations on US highways.