BP shares have jumped nearly 20% this week

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Investors seem to have liked BP’s latest strategy update that told of its goal to produce more oil and gas in the short term as the UK-based supermajor is once again worth more than £100 billion ($121 billion) on the London stock exchange for the first time in three years.

BP’s (LON: BP) shares in London have jumped by nearly 19% since this past on February 7 when the company said it would invest more in resilient oil and gas projects than previously planned and would pump more hydrocarbons for longer to meet the world’s needs.

BP

As a result, BP’s market capitalization exceeded the £100 billion mark, and as of 1 p.m. in London on Friday, the supermajor’s market cap was £101.36 billion ($122.7 billion).

Shares in oil companies suffered with the plunge in oil demand and prices during the pandemic and the ESG trend that has seen investors shun oil companies. In recent months, however, the rise in oil prices and the record quarterly profits have helped oil stocks recoup the losses from 2020 and 2021.

Earlier this week, BP reported record earnings for 2022, more than doubling its profit last year, raised its Q4 dividend, and announced a further $2.75 billion in share buybacks.

More importantly, BP said it would be producing more oil and gas for longer and increase investment into oil and gas projects by an average of up to $1 billion a year, or up to a cumulative $8 billion to 2030. As a result of these changes, BP anticipates its oil and gas production will be around 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2025 and aims for it to be around 2.0 million boe/d in 2030. This 2030 production would be around 25% lower than BP’s production in 2019, excluding production from Rosneft, compared to BP’s previous expectation of a reduction of around 40%. BP now aims for a fall of 20% to 30% in emissions from the carbon in its oil and gas production in 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline, lower than the previous aim of 35-40%.

“We need continuing near-term investment into today’s energy system – which depends on oil and gas – to meet today’s demands and to make sure the transition is an orderly one,” CEO Bernard Looney said.