British Petroleum to cut 7,700 jobs to reduce costs

British Petroleum (BP) Plc has announced plans to cut about 7,700 jobs as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce costs in 2025.

The company plans to cut 4,700 full-time jobs and dismiss over 3,000 contractors.

According to Bloomberg on Thursday, Murray Auchincloss, BP’s chief executive officer (CEO), explained the reason for the company’s planned job cut in an email to employees.

“I understand and recognise the uncertainty this brings for everyone whose job may be at risk, and also the effect it can have on colleagues and teams,” Auchincloss said.

“We have got more we need to do through this year, next year and beyond, but we are making strong progress as we position BP to grow as a simpler, more focused, higher-value company.”

The CEO said British Petroleum will be betting on digitisation, including the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across departments.

Bloomberg said the job cuts followed an announcement by BP to postpone and relocate its strategy meeting from New York, United States, to London, United Kingdom, to enable Auchincloss recover from a medical procedure.

The publication said the market value of BP has declined under Auchincloss, lagging behind competitors like Shell.

Amid the decline, the report said investors expect Auchincloss to announce in February that British Petroleum will move closer towards oil and gas after Bernard Looney, the former CEO, made a faulty prediction that global oil consumption had already peaked and embraced low-carbon energy as the company’s preferred path.

However, Looney was sacked — over personal conduct — before his low-carbon energy strategy yielded results.

As part of the company’s cost-cutting measures, BP has halted 30 projects since June, according to Bloomberg, to focus on profitable ventures.