As BP prepares to announce its Annual Results on Tuesday, it has been revealed that Energy Minister Graham Stuart previously sought the oil and gas company’s input on how to ‘win’ the argument that new North Sea drilling can ensure energy security. Following an FOI request by the campaigns organisation Culture Unstained, meeting notes also show how BP Vice President Louise Kingham was asked whether the government has ‘the right incentives in place’ for maximising oil recovery in the North Sea and assured that the ‘money is there’ as well as the ‘structures to allow it to flow’. 

The meeting between the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and BP’s Vice President Louise Kingham took place a year ago in the aftermath of BP’s Annual Results for 2022, when the company announced that it had made record profits of nearly $28 billion, the biggest in the company’s 114-year history, and coming at a time when many consumers were struggling with increased energy costs. The news comes after the government recently conceded that new North Sea oil and gas does not guarantee energy security or lower bills, with a new report from Global Witness revealing that 80% of the UK’s North Sea oil in 2022 was exported. 

The readout from the meeting on 17th February shows how:

• Despite the International Energy Agency analysis that we can have no investment in new fossil fuels if we are to reach ’net zero’, BP’s Vice President proudly sets out that, ‘We have a couple of big rigs in Scotland, as part of an increased drilling programme, reflects that we are spending and doing more in the north sea.’

• Graham Stuart MP is unequivocal in asking for BP’s input, asking, ‘Where do you think we are in terms of having the right incentives in place to maximise recovery from the north sea and keeping making the case to win the argument why producing it in the UK is good and is part of the net zero transition to make sure we minimise our imports.’ His comments suggest that he believes BP and the government should be working in close alignment, saying that it’s, ‘Not a difficult argument to make and win[,] we just need to go and make it.’

• He appears to directly seek BP’s support and input on making the argument that we need to invest in UK oil and gas in order to avoid importing fossil fuels, although the government recently admitted that it can’t force companies to allocate production for domestic use: ‘…we will be using oil and gas and if we don’t do it ourselves we will be spending that money elsewhere, adding that up I would like a number saying do we really want to spend x billions relying on foreign imports. It is a strong argument…’

• Despite BP continuing to make significant profits during the cost of living crisis, the topic of ‘incentives’ for maximising its activity in the North Sea appears to be an open one, with Stuart summarising that, ‘There is a lot more competition but the money is there, making incentives and structures to allow it to flow… [redacted] …future of oil and gas, it has a future in a [Net Zero] future, as well as cross over arguments. What are your views on prices?’

The meeting readout is available to view here and the accompanying chain of correspondence where the meeting was arranged here. 

Chris Garrard, Co-director of campaigns and research organisation Culture Unstained, has said:

‘BP and the government know that drilling for new North Sea oil will undermine the UK’s climate commitments and won’t ensure energy security, yet last year the Minister cynically sought BP’s help to try and ‘win’ the opposite argument. What’s more disturbing though, is that days after BP had announced record profits, he [seems to assure] BP that there are incentives and money to keep its polluting fossil fuels flowing, all while the public struggled to pay their energy bills. And now, without any hint of irony, the Culture Secretary says that we should say ‘thank you’ to BP for effectively giving some of its loose change to The British Museum.’

Tessa Khan, at the campaign group Uplift, told the Guardian:

“BP’s got a nerve telling our government that the industry needs more tax breaks and subsidies or they won’t invest, in the middle of a cost of living crisis driven by energy bills and when it’s just announced $28bn in profit. What’s really egregious, though, is the minister responding that ‘the money is there’ for profiteering oil giants at the same time as it’s just cut off vital support to millions of households who literally can’t afford to heat their homes. There’s no question at all about whose side this government is on.”

The news also comes as BP continues to face opposition over its sponsorship of the arts. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer recently argued in a key speech on philanthropy that, ‘I think we should say to BP, thank you’ after the company agreed to pay £50 million to the British Museum over a period of 10 years. It’s a move that has been criticised by campaigners as ‘indefensible’ and ‘out-of-touch’, and was challenged on Friday by Dame Natalie Bennett during a House of Lords debate. Bennett said that, ‘Artwashing, greenwashing – they do not clean the hands of companies like BP, but they do damage the reputation, the standing [and] the world’s view of institutions that enable that effort at greenwashing.’