BP

BP is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, headquartered in London. In 2026 the company is mid-way through a strategy pivot announced under CEO Murray Auchincloss: BP scaled back the ambitious net-zero targets set by his predecessor Bernard Looney, restored capital to oil and gas upstream, and trimmed its renewables portfolio after shareholder pressure over weak returns. Its European refining estate, including the 400,000 barrels-per-day Rotterdam refinery, has periodically run at reduced capacity due to maintenance cycles and feedstock disruptions, making it a recurring signal in European refined-product markets.

Founded in 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP grew through the nationalisation of Iranian oil fields, the 1998 merger with Amoco, and the 2000 acquisition of ARCO to become a supermajor. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers and released approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil, cost the company over $65 billion in charges and reshaped its safety culture. BP operates across more than 60 countries, producing roughly 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, with major upstream positions in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Oman. It holds a 19.75% stake in Rosneft, though that stake was written down following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and BP announced its intention to exit.

BP sits at the intersection of several live Lowdown topics. In European energy markets it is both a crude importer and a product exporter, so refinery utilisation rates are a leading indicator for regional gasoline and diesel spreads. In the energy transition debate BP's strategic reversals illustrate the tension between investor returns and decarbonisation commitments. In geopolitics its Rosneft exposure, Azeri pipeline interests (it operates the BTC pipeline), and Iraqi upstream licences make it a weathervane for how Western oil majors navigate politically volatile regions.