BP – Beyond Petroleum
‘Beyond Petroleum’, Remember that?
Last week it was SHELL this week it’s BP announcing record profits of £23billion for last year. This is up from £11 billion last year gushes BBC Scotland’s Douglas Fraser enthusiastically on Good Morning Scotland. BP is he declared “Performing while transforming” quoting BP chief executive, Bernard Looney. The BBC’s Business and Economy Editor explained: “They’re keen to make the point that they’re not just in the business of selling oil and gas they’re also investing in renewable energy.” (GMS 1.56.35).
This is completely partisan and inappropriate reporting from a senior BBC Editor. It’s also just completely misleading. In fact as Common Wealth points out: “BP announces £11.8 bn of shareholder payouts, over 14 times as much as the energy giant invested in “low carbon” activities.”
The think-tank explained: “Today’s figures show BP’s low-carbon investment is far below the figure for the company’s investment in fossil fuels and the sums distributed to shareholders. Analysis by Common Wealth Senior Analyst Chris Hayes found that in 2022 BP spent over 14 times as much on shareholder payouts (dividends and share buybacks combined) as their capital expenditure on their ‘low carbon’ segment. In Q4, BP spent around 8 times as much on payouts to shareholders as their capital expenditure on this ‘low carbon’ segment. The results follow on from last week’s announcement by Shell, where the company recorded profits of over £32 billion for 2022. Over the full course of 2022, Shell’s distribution to shareholders (combined share buybacks and dividends) totalled £20 billion — roughly 7.5 times their cumulative investment in Renewable and Energy Solutions (£2.8bn).”
As Alex Lawson the Guardian’s Energy Correspondent points out (‘BP scales back climate goals as profits more than double to £23bn‘): “BP has scaled back its climate ambitions as it announced that annual profits more than doubled to $28bn (£23bn) in 2022 after a sharp increase in gas prices linked to the Ukraine war boosted its earnings. In a move that will anger campaigners, the oil and gas giant cut its emissions pledge and plans a greater production of oil and gas over the next seven years compared with previous targets.”
Why this grand larceny should be the subject of BBC Scotland’s support is astonishing, and disgraceful. Why is this allowed from a public broadcaster?
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“Why is this allowed from a public broadcaster?”
Because the BBC wouldn’t bite the hand that feeds.
It’s remit is not to expand the overton window, but to be the guardrail of the existing narrative of ‘consume, consume, consume’.
The ‘shareholders = good’ alongside the ‘protesters = terrorists’ narrative is the theme of the day.
And to quote John Kenneth Galbraith
“People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material portion of their privilege.”
This is why we cannot have nice things, like a liveable planet with all species co-existing together.
I suspect Mr Fraser was just reading out the press briefing issued by BP.
Whether he did this by choice or was under instructions from the programme editor to do so, I am unable to say.
The BBC is becoming increasingly overtly partisan and propagandistic on behalf of the UK Government. The unquestioning reporting on former PM Ms Truss’s ‘essay’ in the Sunday Telegraph is an another example.
My experience in the past is yes that BBC reporters just ingest and regurgitate press releases. There is also a problem with ‘Business Editors’ just reporting business as if it occurs in a moral vacuum. But in this instance Douglas just reported factually incorrect material.
I tuned in very briefly to a BBC channel recently discussing one of the latest ridiculous Tory scandals, and just felt a real impression wave over me of a nation in the grip of some kind of evil regime apologist propaganda – and not just Scotland.
In other news, Australia’s just approved the *5th* Covid booster dose for all adults over 18 from 20th February (none for anyone under 50 in the UK since the 1st booster well over a year ago I think, with the entire Covid booster regime being cancelled shortly). Australia is very, very far from perfect (er – Edinburgh-is-Everywhere housing insanity and a legal system – not a justice system – that largely benefits lawyers, the rich and the maintenance of the pretence of justice…), but it’s actually really refreshing to be in a place where the government feels like it’s largely, sort of, reality-accepting and not outright malevolent…