BP cuts its oil exploration team sevenfold

BP has reduced its oil exploration team's staff seven times, and now it is less than 100 people, Report informs referring to Reuters.

BP acquired around 3,000 square kilometers of new exploration licenses in 2020, its lowest since at least 2015 and far less than at Shell, which acquired about 11,000 square kilometers, or Total, which bought 17,000 square kilometers.

BP CEO Bernard Looney is driving the exploration budget even lower, to around $350 to $400 million per year. That is around half of what BP spent in 2019 and a fraction of the $4.6 billion spent on exploration in 2010.

BP began reducing its spending on exploration under former CEO Bob Dudley in response to the 2014 oil price crash, aiming to use technology to unlock more oil and gas reserves.

"The winds have turned very chilly in the exploration team since Looney’s arrival. This is happening incredibly fast," a senior member of the team told Reuters. In recent months, hundreds have left the oil exploration team, either transferred to help develop new low-carbon activities or laid off, current and former employees said.

BP declined to comment on the staffing changes, which have not been publicly disclosed.