Running numbers and running marathons: Jen’s story
Jennifer studied finance at Texas A&M University, but after graduating she decided the culture of investment banking wasn’t for her. She was drawn to bp because we are supportive of developing females in the trading space
Jennifer studied finance at Texas A&M University, but after graduating she decided the culture of investment banking wasn’t for her. Instead, she turned to the world of energy trading and met with several companies that were actively recruiting. She was drawn to bp because of its pitch to her.
In the fourteen years that have followed, Jennifer has moved up the ranks to become book lead for low carbon trading in the US and started her own family – while somehow finding the time to have run seven marathons!
A sense of togetherness, from natural gas to low carbon trading
After spending her early career in natural gas trading, Jennifer moved to the low carbon trading team in 2017. Initially apprehensive about the move, Jen explains:
At bp, the low carbon trading team is set up differently from the other books. “We’re advising different areas of bp that are building renewable projects and we trade in a different way. For example, when I’m trading renewables gallons, I take decisions that are less about risk-reward profit and more about the energy transition”, Jen says. But the sense of togetherness that Jennifer valued while working in natural gas remains the same. “In my current team, you'll find a family that is extremely supportive of each other. We work together and want to see each other be successful. And we’re one of the most team-oriented areas of the business” she says,
Building bp’s biogas portfolio
Day-to-day, Jennifer’s time is focused on building out bp’s US portfolio of biogas, a renewable energy source produced by the breakdown of organic matter. She explains, “I'm looking at new deal structures and contracts, strategizing how to manage the biogas portfolio we have now and maximise its value.” bp operates four biogas facilities, so Jennifer is frequently on the phone with dairy farmers, trying to work out how to optimize these deals. Her team members also visit the farms to make sure they are operating appropriately. “We have to think about everything,” Jennifer says, “and even consider which cow manure will give us the best yields to ensure we are efficient as possible from an environmental and financial perspective.”
Jennifer also enjoys working in the emerging Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) space in the US; the LCFS is a rule employed by some US States to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation. “We need to have a strong view on what the LCFS market is going to look like in the future and so we spend a lot of time building out our views on the market in North America”, Jennifer says.
More broadly, Jennifer feels that bp’s ambition to become a net zero company by 2050, or sooner, means low-carbon trading is well positioned to play a pivotal role.