BP is shutting its low-carbon mobility team in the energy major’s latest retreat from its five-year-old attempt to diversify away from oil and gas.
The unit was responsible for developing electric, hydrogen and other low-emission solutions for vehicles, particularly trucks. It is the most recent casualty of chief executive Murray Auchincloss’s plan to refocus BP on its legacy oil and gas business.
Senior BP executive Martin Thomsen told staff on Wednesday that it was no longer “commercially viable” for BP to justify a dedicated team to the activity. Any remaining activities would be allocated to other parts of the business, he added.
Thomsen wrote in an email to staff on Wednesday: “As you know, and Murray has made very clear, we can see that the energy transition is moving at a slower pace than we had anticipated.”
On a call with staff on the same day, he was more direct. “We had a view of low-carbon that didn’t happen,” he said, according to a person on the call. “We need to revert to the old BP — more oil and gas — and old-fashioned retail — petrol, diesel.”