Extraordinary times and staying connected

Yesterday I spoke with nearly 7,000 of our staff on a live webcast (bonus pic below!). I never imagined I would be doing my first global “town hall” from my flat in London but these are extraordinary times.

And in extraordinary times – it’s even more important that we stay connected.

I have been amazed by the work going on in bp. People rising to the challenge to safely and reliably deliver the energy the world needs. The highest praise must go to our frontline staff for that.

On the webcast I talked with the team about the fact that the economic environment right now is brutal, to be frank. It is a unique confluence of events. The global response to the coronavirus has reduced the demand for many of our industry’s products, at the same time as the supply of oil and gas has increased due to the OPEC+ alliance breaking down.

We have been here before. The oil price was around what it is now when I joined the company 29 years ago. We will respond by taking calm, deliberate action to manage capital and costs. But – of course - it is no less worrying for our people.

All of this means it was important to reassure everyone that even as we take this action - and while we’re asking so much of them - our response will not include making any bp staff redundant over the next 3 months. There is enough to worry about right now in light of the pressures we all face. And we are serious about reducing the immense stress on our team.

And that is a reminder that this is a time when people come first. It is part of our new company purpose – and I hope you will have seen in the actions we are taking that it matters a great deal to us. We will keep going on this and go further.

For now, wishing you all good health.

#InThisTogether