Talk Dirty to Me, BP!

C-MACC Weekly Sustainability and Energy Transition Report

Talk Dirty to Me, BP!

• 1st Topic of the Week: Could BP’s strategic shift be more reactive than visionary? We argue that the evolution of its strategy since 2020 has tended to be more guided by short-term market conditions than actionable plans to generate higher incremental risk-adjusted returns and why some peers will likely continue to outperform it.
• 2nd Topic of the Week: The European Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal aims to support industry while staying focused on sustainability, but industry leaders find it vague and lacking firm implementation steps – we agree and argue that the EC should concentrate its efforts where it is most needed: enabling cheap, reliable power!
• Otherwise – We discuss waste challenges facing plastic recyclers, hindering their much-needed ability to scale, grid constraints challenges facing the Chinese build-out of solar, though it still dwarfs US levels, and other items.

Exhibit 1: BP updates strategy, shuns renewables in return to oil and gas – another coincident strategy move?

Source: BP Capital Markets Update, February 2025