This archive report was first published on 4 August 2020.
BP Plc, a UK-based oil giant, has been struggling to navigate the economic landscape ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of its efforts to reposition, the company announced a $6.7 billion net loss in the second quarter of 2020, its largest quarterly loss in history.
BP also cut its dividend in half, a move that marks its first dividend cut since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company plans to reduce its aggregate oil and natural gas production by 40% by 2030, from 2.6 million barrels per day to around 1.5 million barrels per day.
BP aims to increase its low-carbon energy investments to $5 billion annually by 2030, a tenfold increase, and develop 50 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity, 20 times last year's levels.
According to BP, the dividend cut is part of a new 'investor proposition' that positions the company to deal with the pandemic and the longer-term move toward lower-carbon sources.
'The board believes setting a dividend at this level takes into account the current uncertainty regarding the economic consequences of the COVID pandemic, supports BP's balance sheet and also provides the flexibility required to invest into the energy transition at scale,' BP said.
