BP has said it will increase oil and gas investment to about $10 billion annually while reducing low-carbon energy investment by $5 billion. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg)
February 3, 2026 7:00 AM, EST
BP needs to demonstrate how its decision to prioritize investment in oil and gas will create value for shareholders, according to a group of investors.
An alliance of funds that manages 191 billion pounds ($260 billion) in assets filed a special resolution asking BP to show how it “promotes a disciplined approach to capital expenditure” and determines whether each new oil and gas project generates an acceptable return. The group includes U.K. and European pension funds and the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility.
“BP has underperformed for the past decade, including the period they were prioritizing oil and gas production,” Diandra Soobiah, director of responsible investment at U.K. workplace pension provider Nest, said in a statement Feb. 3. “Now [that] they have dropped their renewables strategy, investors need to be reassured that any expansion to their upstream oil and gas portfolio will be governed by robust capital discipline and generate sustainable returns.”
BP’s long underperformance compared to its Big Oil peers stems in part from the company’s 2020 pivot away from fossil fuels to low-carbon ventures under former CEO Bernard Looney. Those green bets are now being unwound, resulting in a write-down in its energy transition business of as much as $5 billion in the fourth quarter.
BP has said it will increase oil and gas investment to about $10 billion annually while reducing low-carbon energy investment by $5 billion. Incoming CEO Meg O’Neill, an oil and gas industry veteran, is expected to steer an even more definitive return to fossil fuels when she starts in April.
