Climate investor threats to BP plan highlight spring annual meeting
The company's pivot back to oil and gas will be under the microscope
In today’s edition:
— BP’s pivot puts it back under the shareholder microscope
— UK tells energy leaders to be ready for long war
— March’s massive heat dome not an isolated spike
— Data centers creating ‘heat islands’
April is annual meeting month on Wall Street and none will be more contentious this spring in the energy space than BP’s shareholder update after the company blocked a shareholder resolution to explain the long-term plan to pivot back to oil and gas from green energy.
Activist shareholder group Follow This, which purports to have the backing of influential investors with more than $1 trillion in total assets, has given the British energy giant until Thursday to include its resolution or face a legal suit in advance of its April 25 annual general meeting.
BP has blocked shareholder resolutions before, but the practice is extremely rare in Britain, which has caused frustration among many of the climate investors who had bought BP shares in recent years for its green agenda only to see the company flip flop on that last year.
BP announced the pivot last year and has since followed up with new leadership in a bid to offset years of flagging share prices despite its efforts to compete in the renewable energy market. The shares have been stagnant since the reorganization but like other oil stocks have leaped in the last month because of the Iranian war.
With shares higher going into April, and reports saying the war could go on several more weeks, BP management will gain confidence in its strategy ahead of the annual general meeting.
But the question at the heart of the resolution that shareholders want answered is what the company’s strategy will be when demand for oil inevitably starts declining again. BP has sold off or closed some renewable assets but still has many and the shareholders want their voice heard that they don’t believe oil and gas are the only future.
April is setting up to be another tumultuous month in oil markets, but investors will start to get a view into what the big oil companies are thinking as the BP meeting and others begin to take place.
If you have ideas or suggestions for us, contact me directly at
dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
Tuesday’s subscriber insights
UK tells energy leaders to be ready for long war
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