BP Under Pressure to Reset Strategy as Profits Slide

BP faces renewed pressure from investors as it prepares to publish full-year results expected to show weaker profits. Analysts forecast earnings of about $7.5bn, down from nearly $9bn in 2024, after falling oil prices cut revenues for a third straight year. Crude prices dropped below $60 a barrel late in 2025, hitting fourth-quarter results particularly hard. Incoming chief executive Meg O’Neill is expected to outline a clearer strategy as shareholders question BP’s recent shift back towards fossil fuels. Activist investors, including Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility and Follow This, want BP to explain how it will manage spending as long-term demand for oil and gas declines. The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to fall from around 2030. While analysts at Citi say BP’s share price has recently outperformed European rivals, campaigners argue its strategy lacks clarity and risks locking the company into projects that may become financially unsustainable.