Speaking at a business summit organised by the North East England Chamber of Commerce, BP’s Head Of Country for the UK, Louise Kingham, gave a speech about BP’s investment plans for the UK.
Kingham started by pointing out how the company would be investing more in the UK over this decade than it has historically. BP, which also makes industrial products like metalworking fluids under the Castrol brand, is aiming to direct about 15–20% of its capital investment to the UK, some £18 billion, compared with about 10–15% in the past.
The Head of Country also spoke about further investment in North Sea oil and gas production, including to reduce the emissions from these operations:
“As well as our Teesside projects, we are looking at continuing to invest in the North Sea but driving down operational emissions through a range of measures like zero routine flaring. We’re also exploring opportunities to electrify offshore facilities in the Central North Sea and West of Shetland.”
BP also has big plans for renewable energy with its partner EnBW. Three windfarms, one in the North Sea and two in the Irish Sea, will have a capacity of 6 GW when combined, which is roughly equivalent to powering six million homes. As well as this, £1 billion will also be invested in installing charging points for electric vehicles.
Kingham also talked about hard-to-decarbonise industries and highlighted how Teesside could potentially become the first net-zero industrial cluster in the world thanks to the hydrogen and carbon capture projects that are planned for the region.
