BP has pledged to invest up to £18bn in the UK’s energy system by the end of 2030 to help the country to deliver on its ambitions to boost energy security and reach net zero.
BP chief executive Bernard Looney said the oil and gas player is fully committed to the UK’s energy transition.
“Our plans go beyond just infrastructure – they see us supporting the economy, skills development and job opportunities in the communities where we operate. We are all in,” he said.
The £18bn figure is in addition to BP’s “significant operating spend” in the UK.
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, an estimated 0.5% of UK GDP was supported by BP’s activities, the company claimed.
BP also anticipates paying up to £1bn in taxes for its 2022 North Sea profits.
The UK projects in which BP is looking to invest, and the wider activities supporting them, include progressing asset electrification projects in the Central North Sea and West of Shetland to further reduce operational emissions and supporting the North Sea Transition Deal.
In offshore wind BP, in partnership with EnBW, has secured two 60-year offshore wind leases in the Irish Sea (combined potential generating capacity of 3GW).
It also has preferred bidder status pending signing of Wind Farm Agreement for Lease (AFL) option (potential generating capacity of 2.9GW) off the east coast of Scotland in the ScotWind round.
BP has also said it will invest in infrastructure, ports, harbours and shipyards, including the construction of four ships to support the offshore wind projects across the UK, subject to technical and commercial due diligence.
These new-builds are anticipated to involve an investment of more than £100m and would be expected to support 500 associated jobs.
In Aberdeen BP will open a global operations and maintenance centre of excellence for offshore wind, creating up to 120 new direct jobs.
BP is also planning two large-scale hydrogen production facilities in Teesside, including the HyGreen electrolyser project as part of a commitment to produce 1.5GW of hydrogen by 2030, 15% of the UK government’s 10GW target by 2030.
BP is also working with Aberdeen City Council in a joint venture to deliver a scalable green hydrogen production, storage and distribution facility powered by renewable energy.
In its first quarter results BP reported an underlying replacement cost profit of $6.2bn, compared with $4.1bn, was driven by “exceptional oil and gas trading” as well as higher oil realisations and a stronger refining result, partly offset by the absence of Rosneft from the first quarter underlying result.