From new leaders to electric-vehicle initiatives and more, there are changes happening at energy and oil company bp.
Here are four things to know from the Chicago-based company’s third-quarter 2023 earnings report, which was released Tuesday.
- bp is No. 7. on CSP's 2023 Top 202 list of largest U.S. c-store chains by store count.
New Leaders
This was bp’s first earnings call since Bernard Looney resigned from his role of CEO. Murray Auchincloss, the company’s CFO, has taken over as interim CEO of the oil company. Since then, the company has gone through other leadership changes as well.
Kate Thomson was appointed interim chief financial officer. And Dave Lawler, chairman and president of bp America and CEO of oil and gas producer bpx energy, announced in early October that he was leaving the company.
“We remain interim CEO and interim CFO, and the board is running its process, and the board will update you in due course,” Auchincloss said when someone asked whether he and Thomson were still interim.
Net Profit Down From Year Prior
bp reported $3.3 billion in third-quarter 2023 underlying earnings, or net profit, up from the $2.6 billion in the prior three months but down from the $8.2 billion underlying earnings in second-quarter 2022.
Its underlying results were due to higher realized refining margins and lower level of refining turnaround activity; strong oil trading result; higher oil and gas production; and weak gas marketing and trading result, bp said in presenting its financial results.
“In our customers business we continue to show strong momentum in convenience and aviation, benefiting from seasonally higher fuel volumes partially offset by lower margins given the rising cost of supply,” Thomson said.
TravelCenters of America Integration
bp is expanding its convenience network by adding 288 travel centers to its portfolio with the acquisition of TravelCenters of America. TA continues to integrate well, and in the first nine months of 2023, excluding TA, bp delivered about 8% year-over-year growth in convenience gross margin, Auchincloss said.
Expanding EV
Auchincloss also touched on bp’s agreement with Tesla for the purchase of $100 million of ultra-fast chargers in the United States as part of its $500 million EV charging infrastructure investment.
As early as 2024, Tesla chargers will be installed across the bp pulse network, including at key bp, Amoco, ampm and Thorntons branded sites, bp said in its earlier announcement on the purchase.
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