2020: a year to remember
Bernard launches our net zero ambition with a worldwide campaign
Time for change
February was a big month for bp. Our new chief executive, Bernard Looney, got straight to work by announcing a new purpose and ambition for the company: to reimagine energy for people and our planet and become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner and to help the world get to net zero.
To make this happen, Bernard unveiled 10 supporting aims and plans to completely reshape bp’s organization. Speaking at the February launch, he said: “This coming decade is critical for the world in the fight against climate change, and to drive the necessary change in global energy systems will require action from everyone…We have to change. And we want to change – this is the right thing for the world and for bp.”
Go deeper
Get all the details on our ambition and purpose.
A row of cars being charged by bpXJ chargers through bp’s partnership with DiDi in China
Charging up in China
Our electric vehicle (EV) charging ambitions took a big step forward when we launched the first 500 fast charging points under a new joint venture with DiDi. It’s all part of our plan to install more than 35,000 charge points across China by 2030. Globally, we want to get more than 70,000 points up and running by the end of the decade.
Other EV news:
- In July, Aral announced plans to roll out more than 100 350kW charging points across Germany over the next year.
- In October, bp Pulse (formerly bp Chargemaster) won the UK’s largest-ever EV infrastructure contract to supply charging points to Police Scotland.
Check out our World EV Day 2020 special for more.
bp China retail’s Zhou Zhongmei offers vegetables planted by the staff to customers free of charge in Zhejiang Province, an area severely impacted by ...
COVID-19 response
In March, daily life changed inexorably as the COVID-19 virus swept the globe. Millions of Chinese citizens had already experienced life in lockdown and now governments across the world imposed their own stay-at-home orders to try to slow the spread of the pandemic.
Our employees stepped up
From the start, bp employees went out of their way to help customers, friends, neighbours and strangers adapt to the pandemic restrictions. Our team got involved in everything from making face masks for health workers and delivering food and essential items to the vulnerable, to volunteering in hospitals and providing emotional support to those struggling in lockdown.
Our key workers kept our facilities operating safely…
Our frontline teams continued to keep our platforms and plants running throughout the pandemic, adapting to changing needs and unprecedented falls in demand. Many facilities donated PPE to local hospitals.
While we kept them safe
We introduced tough measures across our facilities to help protect our frontline teams. Those measures continue today. In Angola, for example, workers on the Greater Plutonio floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel must quarantine in a Luanda hotel for two weeks before heading offshore. This means a four-week rotation is now six weeks away from home.
Watch this minute-long film made by site engineer Arlette Giron Paiva to find out about life offshore during the pandemic
Filming from home, Bernard gives his regular #KeepingConnected webcast to employees around the world
Office-based staff stayed connected
With so many bp employees now working from home and at risk of feeling isolated, Bernard began a series of regular global webcasts. Sometimes accompanied by a member of his leadership team, Bernard set out bp’s three clear objectives during the pandemic – to protect our people, support our communities and strengthen the financial health of the company. He and his guests also took questions from employees.
Donations of food of fuel
In many countries around the world, we offered free fuel for emergency services, as well as drinks and snacks, from our retail sites. Our catering facilities also delivered food to local food banks. In addition, bp made significant donations to the World Health Organization and UK mental health charity Mind.
More on our COVID-19 response
Throughout the first three months of the pandemic, we tracked our team’s efforts to help others.
- Take a look at some of their extraordinary work over on our InThisTogether page.
- Find out how we adapted our operations during the pandemic to protect our people and customers.
A rainbow montage of bp operations to celebrate Pride month
Pride in our LGBT+ community
The ongoing pandemic meant that Pride month in June was a little different in 2020, but that didn’t mean its message was any less important. While physical gatherings were impossible, bp wanted to reiterate its commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.
Sharing this rainbow montage on our Instagram feed, Bernard wrote: “Across the globe, our bp Pride members have educated and celebrated our people and showed the true meaning to #PrideNeverStops.” Quoting a member of staff, he continued: “If we settle for tolerance, things are never going to change.”
Sharing and caring
Reimagining energy also had the privilege to share one moving story from a bp employee living what he describes as a ‘double life’.
bp logos over the past 100 years
Leader of the brand
You don’t get to be 111 years old without evolving a few times. And our brand is no different. The iconic bp shield was first introduced in 1930 and underwent a several transformations before being replaced by our Helios logo in 2000.
In July, we celebrated the 20th anniversary. Named after the Greek god of the sun, the Helios logo was intended to exemplify dynamic energy in all its forms and its multiple petals were designed to show that many companies had merged to work together as bp.
History revisited
A montage of images depicting our move from IOC to IEC
Reinventing the deal
In August, bp took its next step in reinventing the company when we announced our new strategy that will see us pivot from being an international oil company (IOC), focused on producing resources, to an integrated energy company (IEC), focused on delivering solutions for customers. We set out how we would be a different company by 2030, with a new strategy supported by a disciplined financial framework. The combination of strategy and financial frame is designed to provide a coherent and compelling investor proposition – introducing a balance between committed distributions, profitable growth and sustainable value – and create long-term value for bp’s stakeholders.
Go deeper:
Get the full lowdown on our new strategy.
Outlining plans for our new strategy, bp weeks kicks off in September
Emma Delaney, VP of customers & products, gives her bp week presentation on convenience and mobility
bp week
In presentations over three days in September, we proudly presented more on our new strategy, outlining our plans to move from international oil company to integrated energy company (IOC to IEC). The deep dive with the bp leadership team into our new businesses was held over three days and involved sharing our plans for:
- focusing our resilient hydrocarbons business, reducing production by 40% while increasing its value
- growing our highly profitable convenience and mobility business and
- achieving a 20-fold increase in renewables
It’s a big challenge, so we got straight to work, announcing our first foray into offshore wind. We’re agreeing to team up with Equinor to develop major wind assets in the fast-growing US market.
Go deeper
Find out more about our strategic partnership with Equinor.
bp signs offshore wind deal with Equinor
The Ghazeer team having a socially distanced toolbox talk in front of gas processing train 3
Operators on board the Atlantis platform in the Gulf of Mexico
Performing as we transform
Not even a global pandemic could stop our Ghazeer team safely delivering first gas at our facilities out in the Omani desert. In fact, the gas field was brought online ahead of schedule, despite the extra COVID-19 restrictions and precautions. Ghazeer is a perfect example of our strategy to produce resilient, focused hydrocarbons and is just one of five major projects planned to be brought online in 2020.
Our other hydrocarbons projects online so far this year:
- In August, Atlantis Phase 3 in the US Gulf of Mexico started up. The project is expected to boost production by 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day at its peak.
- In October, we successfully started up the Qattameya gas project in Egypt.
- In November, Vorlich in the UK Central North Sea, commenced production.
Read our in-depth feature on how the team successfully delivered Ghazeer.
Construction workers fitting solar panels to a tracker frame at the Vendimia solar project in Almochuel, Spain
Sky’s the limit for Lightsource bp
A lot can happen in a decade – just ask Lightsource bp (LSbp), which celebrated its 10th anniversary at the end of 2020.
Since its inception, our renewables partner has grown from six people in one London office to become a leader in the development and management of solar projects, operating in 14 countries.
In 2017, it joined forces with bp and has grown its development pipeline from 1.6 to around 16 gigawatts. And it’s embracing everything from the natural to the artificial. Its growing number of sites are home to a growing number of species, thanks to its biodiversity plans. And it’s installing the latest in tilting solar panels that track the sun, thanks to artificial intelligence.
Top 10
Our LSbp joint venture is a central part of our new strategy to grow our low carbon business.
Here are 10 reasons why we are proud to work with this remarkable team.
LSbp is providing a safe habitat for the endangered brown hare as its the Wilburton solar farm in Dorset, UK
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