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The faces and places of BP in 2018

Release date:
20 December 2018
From the wide expanses of the open ocean to our high street filling stations, BP people are in action across 70 countries delivering the energy that keeps the world moving. Enjoy some of our favourite images of the BP team and their workplaces in 2018

A collage of images from BP in 2018

View from the top

The Clair Ridge platform, 75km out into the Atlantic, west of the Shetland Islands, has been home to hundreds of engineers this year as they worked to bring first oil from BP's most technically advanced platform. 

Clair Ridge photographed during the hook-up campaign

Locker room chat

Catching a break in the Clair Ridge locker room before getting back to the work of delivering a platform that will supply, at peak, 10% of the UK's oil demand.  

Workers take a break on the Clair Ridge platform

Super powers

The nine petaflops of BP’s supercomputer in Houston, US, are powerful enough to help our geophysicists stay plugged in and wired to what's happening in the subsurface, allowing them to perform calculations in minutes or hours, compared with the days and months the same tasks took a decade ago. The computer's storage power is huge, too; it can hold 30 petabytes of data — the equivalent of more than 500,000 iPhones.

An operator checks the supercomputer at the CHPC

Forecourt refresh

Our state-of-the-art service station in Hammersmith, London, is now lit by green low-energy LED strips after undergoing a makeover. This busy West London forecourt has also been at the centre of a trial where customers have helped us to explore the potential of our Freewire mobile rapid charging system alongside traditional methods of refuelling. 

A BP service station in London, following its refresh

Flexible fellows

Combining a job in scientific research with caring for young children can be tough. That's why BP has funded flexible fellowships that are giving two talented early-career scientists, Dr Ahu Gumrah Dumanli-Parry, left, and Dr Lisa Joss, extra help balancing their careers and personal responsibilities. They will carry out research for five years at the BP International Centre for Advanced Materials (BP-ICAM), based at the University of Manchester. 

Fellowship recipients Dr Ahu Gumrah Dumanli-Parry, left, and Dr Lisa Joss

Barbeque and bonding

Evening picnics are a regular event at the giant Khazzan tight gas project in Oman, where the extreme summer daytime temperatures can reach 55°C (130°F). In the remote Omani desert, BP built from scratch a state-of the art telecommunications network, offices, accommodation blocks and even sports facilities — all to support the massive gas operation that's supplying the energy needed to help power the country's growing economy.

Workers at the Khazzan gas project enjoy an evening together

Turbines at dusk

Weather warnings. Voltage queries. It’s all in a day’s work for the staff operating BP's 11 US wind operations that have a gross generating capacity of just over 1,000 megawatts per year. That’s enough electricity to power all the homes in a city the size of Dallas, and makes BP one of America’s top wind energy producers.

Flat Ridge wind farm in Kansas, US

Remote control

From smartglasses to high-tech drones, consumer electronics have made a big impact on BP's US operations this year. To see for ourselves, we went to a BPX Energy site, in East Texas, to document the work of a site inspection drone — using a photographic drone. Can you tell which is which?

 

Drones are used to inspect at a BPX Energy site in East Texas, US

Goggle rocks

BP has been in action over 50 years encouraging young people to look at the range of careers that can come from studying science, technology, engineering and maths. Schoolchildren attending an event in London this year experienced a virtual reality tour of a BP facility. The idea of the showcase was to give them a greater understanding of how important engineers are for our industry and for solving some of the world's challenges.

 

Children at a BP STEM event in London

Backstage pass

A few last-minute words from BP chief executive Bob Dudley for Carl-Henric Svanberg as he is wired for sound before heading on stage for his final AGM as BP chairman earlier this year. 

Carl-Henric Svanberg at his last AGM as BP chairman
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