BP: Difference between revisions

In response to the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], BP announced that it would sell its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, although no timeline was announced.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60548382|title=BP to offload stake in Rosneft amid Ukraine conflict|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=27 February 2022|access-date=27 February 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Bousso |first1=Ron |last2=Zhdannikov |first2=Dmitry |date=27 February 2022 |title=BP retreats from Russia's Rosneft at cost of $25 bln over Ukraine invasion |language=en |work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/britains-bp-says-exit-stake-russian-oil-giant-rosneft-2022-02-27/ |access-date=27 February 2022}}</ref> BP's decision came after the British government expressed concern about BP's involvement in Russia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strasburg |first=Max Colchester and Jenny |date=25 February 2022 |title=BP Faces Pressure From U.K. Government Over Stake in Russia's Rosneft |language=en-US |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/bp-faces-pressure-from-u-k-government-over-stake-in-russias-rosneft-11645817245 |access-date=27 February 2022 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=25 February 2022 |title=BP's ties to Russia draw UK government 'concern' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/25/bps-ties-to-russia-draw-uk-government-concern |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> However, BP remained a Rosneft shareholder throughout the whole 2022 year, which caused some criticism from the Ukrainian president's office.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/63821028 | title=BP 'stands to receive blood money' from Ukraine war | date=2 December 2022 | publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=2 December 2022 }}</ref>

BP operates the [[Kwinana Oil Refinery|Kwinana]] refinery in [[Western Australia]], which can process up to {{convert|146000|oilbbl/d}} of crude oil and is the country's largest refinery,<ref name=Denton15>{{cite news |title=BP Australia to invest A$450&nbsp;million to expand and upgrade retail network |last1=Denton |first1=Vicky |url=https://fuelsandlubes.com/bp-australia-to-invest-aud-450-million-to-expand-and-upgrade-retail-network-2/ |newspaper=F+L Daily |date=6 May 2015 |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref> supplying fuel to 80% of Western Australia.<ref name=McKnight17>{{cite news |title=$80m overhaul at BP |last1=McKnight |first1=Gareth |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/sound-southern-telegraph/80m-overhaul-at-bp-ng-b88474084z |newspaper=The West Australian |date=16 May 2017 |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref> BP is a non-operating joint venture partner in the [[North West Shelf]], which produces LNG, pipeline gas, condensate and oil.<ref name=Chambers16>{{cite news |title= BP job cuts go deeper as focus turns to fuel retailing |last1=Chambers |first1=Matt |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/bp-job-cuts-go-deeper-as-focus-turns-to-fuel-retailing/news-story/24f57e9e2170bd3fdd3a0d4b2588c27a |newspaper=[[The Australian]] |date=18 May 2016 |access-date=18 August 2017 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The NWS venture is Australia's largest resource development and accounts for around one third of Australia's oil and gas production.<ref name=Lanis17>{{cite news |title=Counting the missing billions: How Australia is losing out to oil and gas giants |last1=Lanis |first1=Roman |last2=Govendir |first2=Brett |last3=McClure |first3=Ross |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/26/counting-the-missing-billions-how-australia-is-losing-out-to-oil-and-gas-giants |newspaper=The Guardian |date=25 April 2017 |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref><ref name=Daiss16>{{cite news |title=Woodside hedges bet with extra $2B North West Shelf investment |last1=Daiss |first1=Tim |url=http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/142516/woodside_hedges_bet_with_extra_2b_north_west_shelf_investment |newspaper=Rigzone |date=15 January 2016 |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref>

Prior to 1997, BP was a member of the [[Global Climate Coalition]], an industry organisation established to promote [[global warming scepticism]], but withdrew in 1997, saying "the time to consider the policy dimensions of [[climate change]] is not when the link between [[greenhouse gas]]es 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.".<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate Change Speech By John Browne, Group Chief Executive, British Petroleum (BP America) Stanford University, 19 May 1997 |url=http://www.jayhanson.us/page106.htm |work=From Capitalism To Democracy |access-date=28 October 2013 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031153114/https://www.jayhanson.us/page106.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Stanford GSB">{{Cite news|url=http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/community/bmag/sbsm0997/feature_ranks.html |title=Breaking Ranks |publisher=Stanford Graduate School of Business |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006112452/http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/community/bmag/sbsm0997/feature_ranks.html |archive-date=6 October 2012 |access-date=12 February 2013}}</ref> BP was distinguished as the first multinational outside of the reinsurance industry to publicly support the [[scientific consensus on climate change]], which [[Pew Center on Global Climate Change]] president [[Eileen Claussen]] then described as a transformative moment on the issue.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cornelissen|first=Joep|title=Corporate Communications: Theory and Practice|year=2004|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-0761944362|page=51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWVOhNxeLpEC}}</ref> In March 2002, Lord John Browne, the group chief executive of BP that time, declared in a speech that [[global warming]] was real and that urgent action was needed.<ref name=nyt050610>{{cite news |last=Frey |first=Darcy |title=How green is BP? | newspaper = The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/magazine/how-green-is-bp.html |date=8 December 2002 |access-date=5 June 2010}}</ref> Notwithstanding this, from 1988 to 2015 BP was responsible for 1.53% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions.<ref name=guardian100717/> 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.<ref name=guardian050610>{{cite news |last= Neslen |first= Arthur | title = BP tops the list of firms obstructing climate action in Europe | newspaper = The Guardian | url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/21/bp-tops-the-list-of-firms-obstructing-climate-action-in-europe |date= 21 September 2015 |access-date = 25 October 2020}}</ref> In 2018, BP was the largest contributor to the campaign opposing [[Washington Initiative 1631|carbon fee initiative 1631]] in Washington State.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Seattle |title=Carbon-fee opponents raise record $25.8M to defeat I-1631 |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/carbon-fee-opponents-raise-record-25-8m-to-defeat-i-1631/ |access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news |title=E&E News |url=https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060095019 |access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref> According to a 2019 [[The Guardian|Guardian]] ranking, BP was the 6th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.<ref name=guardian>{{Cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Matthew|last2=Watts|first2=Jonathan|date=9 October 2019|title=Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions | newspaper =The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions|access-date=14 June 2020}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Noor |first=Dharna |date=16 July 2023 |title=Big oil quietly walks back on climate pledges as global heat records tumble |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/16/big-oil-climate-pledges-extreme-heat-fossil-fuel |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In 2009, another group of 95&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite news|author=Diane Taylor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/11/colombia-farmers-sue-bp-pipeline |title=BP faces damages claim over pipeline through Colombian farmland  |work=The Guardian |access-date=26 April 2013 |location=London |date=11 November 2009}}</ref> The [[Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia]] handed down a judgement rejecting the case in August 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hsfnotes.com/litigation/2016/08/11/judgment-handed-down-in-long-running-class-action-regarding-the-ocensa-pipeline-in-colombia/|title=Judgment handed down in long-running class action regarding the Ocensa pipeline in Colombia|date=11 August 2016|publisher=Herbert Smith Freehills|access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref>

In March 2006, corrosion of a BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA) oil transit pipeline in [[Prudhoe Bay]] transporting oil to the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline System|Trans-Alaska Pipeline]] led to a five-day leak and the largest oil spill on [[Alaska North Slope|Alaska's North Slope]].<ref name="Roach2006" /> According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), a total of {{convert|212252|USgal|oilbbl m3}} of oil was spilled, covering {{convert|2|acre}} of the North Slope.<ref name="ADECMar2008">{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.state.ak.us/SPAR/PERP/response/sum_fy06/060302301/sitreps/060302301_sr_23.pdf |title=GC-2 Oil Transit Line Release Situation Report |date=28 March 2008 |work=dec.state.ak.us |publisher=Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation |access-date=21 January 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rosen2007"/><ref name="Baltimore2007">{{cite news |title=BP admits budget a factor in Alaska spill |first1=Chris |last1=Baltimore |first2=Robert |last2=Campbell |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-alaska-congress/bp-admits-budget-a-factor-in-alaska-spill-idUKN1619278420070516 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802152233/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-alaska-congress/bp-admits-budget-a-factor-in-alaska-spill-idUKN1619278420070516 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 August 2020 |work=Reuters |date=16 May 2007 |access-date=21 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Andrew Clark in New York |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/may/01/energy.business |title=BP accused of 'draconian' cost cuts prior to Alaskan pipeline spill |work=The Guardian |date= 1 May 2007|access-date=5 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/16/8388595/index.htm |title=Can BP bounce back? A disastrous leak. A deadly explosion. CEO John Browne must turn his troubled oil giant around, but time is running out. |last=Schwartz |first=Nelson D. |date=31 October 2006 |journal=Fortune |publisher=CNN |access-date=17 March 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ADECMar2008"/><ref name="Benschoten2006">{{cite news |title=BP Prudhoe Bay Oil Leak Cleanup Completed |author=Andrea Lyn Van Benschoten |url=http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2006/05/bp-prudhoe-bay-oil-leak-cleanup-completed?menuid=272 |publisher=Manufacturing.net |date=22 May 2006 |access-date=22 January 2013}}</ref>

  | newspaper = The Guardian

</ref> 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.<ref name=time181210/><ref>{{Cite news|title=WikiLeaks cables: BP suffered blowout on Azerbaijan gas platform |author=Tim Webb |work=The Guardian|location=UK |date=16 December 2010 |access-date=16 December 2010 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-bp-azerbaijan-gulf-spill | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101216102041/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-bp-azerbaijan-gulf-spill| archive-date= 16 December 2010 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=wikileaks150109>

  | newspaper = The Guardian

In February 2002, BP's then-chief executive, [[Lord Browne of Madingley]], renounced the practice of corporate [[campaign 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."<ref>{{Cite news|author1=Terry Macalister |author2=Michael White |name-list-style=amp |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4365524,00.html |title=BP stops paying political parties |work=The Guardian |date=16 April 2002 |access-date=5 June 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216115036/http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0%2C4273%2C4365524%2C00.html |archive-date=16 December 2008 |url-status = live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news | issn = 0190-8286 | last = Leonnig | first = Carol D.  | title = Despite BP corporate code, firm has made political contributions | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | access-date = 23 March 2013 | date = 29 June 2010 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062903384.html }}</ref>

  | newspaper = The Guardian

<ref name=guardian151112>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/15/bp-deepwater-horizon-gulf-oil-spill |title=BP to pay $4.5bn penalty over Deepwater Horizon disaster |first1=Suzanne |last1=Goldenberg |first2=Dominic |last2=Rushe |date=15 November 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=17 November 2012 |location=London}}</ref>

<ref name=guardian020507>{{Cite news|first1=Ian |last1=Cobain |first2=Clare |last2=Dyer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/may/02/media.pressandpublishing |title=BP's Browne quits over lie to court about private life |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 May 2007 |access-date=5 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529193637/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/may/02/media.pressandpublishing |archive-date=29 May 2010 |url-status=live |location=London}}</ref>

<ref name="Legacy of the Torrey Canyon">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/24/torrey-canyon-oil-spill-deepwater-bp |title=Oil spills: Legacy of the Torrey Canyon |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Patrick |last=Barkham |date=24 June 2010 |access-date=30 June 2013 |location=London}}</ref>

<ref name=guardian120220>{{cite news |last1=Watts |first1=Jonathan |title=BP's statement on reaching net zero by 2050 – what it says and what it means |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/feb/12/bp-statement-on-reaching-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2050-what-it-says-and-what-it-means |access-date=25 October 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=12 February 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=guardian100717>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change |title=Top 100 producers and their cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from 1988-2015 |first=Tess |last=Riley |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 July 2017 |access-date=29 October 2020 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian061207">{{cite news |title=BP to pump billions into oil sands despite green worries and high costs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/dec/06/bp.oil |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 December 2007 |access-date=9 November 2020 |first1=Mark |last1=Milner |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian071207">{{cite news |title=Greenpeace calls BP's oil sands plan an environmental crime |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/dec/07/bp |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 December 2007 |access-date=9 November 2020 |first1=Terry |last1=Macallister |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian150410">{{cite news |title=BP pledges not to use open-pit mining at Canadian oil sands sites |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/15/bp-oil-sands-open-pit-mining |newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=9 November 2020 |first1=John |last1=Stevens |first2=Tim |last2=Webb}}</ref>

<ref name="Macalister2009">{{cite news |title=Cree aboriginal group to join London climate camp protest over tar sands |first=Terry |last=Macalister |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/23/london-tar-sands-climate-protest |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 August 2009 |access-date=25 September 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian100413">{{cite news |title=BP faces pay row at AGM |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/apr/10/bp-agm-pay-row |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=9 November 2020 |first1=Terry |last1=Macallister}}</ref>

<ref name=guardian201108>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/nov/20/fossilfuels-energy | newspaper= The Guardian | first=Fred | last=Pearce | title=Greenwash: BP and the myth of a world 'Beyond Petroleum' | date=20 November 2008 | access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref>