BP is facing calls to ditch its commitment to cut oil and gas output as well other key parts of its strategy to make the company a provider of clean energy from activist investor, Bluebell Capital Partners, according to a report by the Financial Times.
After acquiring a small stake in London-listed BP in October, London-based hedge fund Bluebell, whose previous targets include Danone and Glencore, wrote to BP’s Chair Helge Lund in October outlining its demands.
The report cites Bluebell as writing in the letter, which has been seen by the FT, that BP’s pledge to reduce oil and gas production by 25 per cent by 2030 compared with 2019 levels was destroying shareholder value by moving away from hydrocarbons faster than others in the sector.
“This irrational strategy has, quite understandably, depressed the value of BP’s share price,” Bluebell wrote.
BP’s commitment to reduce the size of its oil and gas business, which was launched by former CEO Bernard Looney in 2020, remains the only hard target to cut output in the global energy sector.
In the past four years, BP has trailed rivals Shell, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron in terms of total returns to shareholders.
