Among the big, bad oil companies in borstal for environmental offenses, BP has long been the relatively benign one, the class pet. Remember how former chief executive Lord Browne two decades ago promised to take the company ‘Beyond Petroleum’ to a golden future of clean energy? In 2004, in a forerunner of the ESG indices which are commonplace today, Goldman Sachs picked out the company as the most environmentally and socially aware of all oil companies. BP was supposed to be the one which was best-placed to manage a transition to cleaner energy, which, according to Goldman Sachs, would reduce risks for the company and boost returns for shareholders.
But it seems that BP is fed up with being the class pet, and wants to behave a bit more like its mates.
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