Skip to content

CFDs are complex financial instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. CFDs are complex financial instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Is the BP share price dip an excellent FTSE 100 opportunity?

BP shares have fallen sharply in recent days as the FTSE 100 oil major recalibrates its investments.

bp Source: Bloomberg

BP's (LON: BP) share price has fallen by 9% in just five days. But while this steep fall appears worrying, BP shares are also up 19% over the past year. By comparison, the FTSE 100 has remained essentially flat.

While this volatility is partially down to the sliding value of Brent Crude, and fears of an upcoming global recession, investors are also reassessing the FTSE 100 oil major’s prospects.

BP share price: oil changes

In November, CEO Bernard Looney famously proclaimed BP a ‘cash machine,’ at a time when Brent Crude was trading at $74. Accordingly, 2021 full-year profits struck an eight-year high of $12.8 billion, while Q1 2022 underlying profits more than doubled to $6.2 billion as Brent hit multi-year highs.

Of course, oil prices are unlikely to remain this high forever. Longview Economics thinks that ‘if oil prices remain at current levels, there will be a significant supply response over the coming 12-18 months which will generate a global supply surplus /rising oil inventories in 2023.’

But with bumper profits, BP plans to spend 60% of the excess on share buybacks while average energy bills are expected to close on £3,000 by autumn.

Accordingly, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced an additional 25% ‘energy profits levy’ on North Sea gas and oil operators, until ‘normal’ prices return or until the end of 2025. However, he included a ‘super-deduction’ from this additional tax, worth 91p on every £1 of investments in the North Sea.

Linda Cook, CEO of Harbour Energy, the biggest oil and gas producer in the North Sea, has criticised the windfall tax as ‘seriously flawed,’ as it is ‘disproportionately large compared with the projected impact on major oil companies such as BP and Shell.’

But Looney has also been critical, arguing that it ‘is not for a one-off tax – it’s a multi-year proposal. Naturally, we will now need to look at the impact of both the new levy and the tax relief on our North Sea investment plans.’

BP was planning to invest £18 billion into the UK over the next eight years, despite not having opened an exploratory well since 2018.

bp 2 Source: Bloomberg

The FTSE 100 operator has also taken a $24.4 billion hit from exiting its 19.75% stake in Rosneft. A third of BP’s oil came from Russia last year, as well as a significant chunk of its income.

BP has also quit the Canadian oil sands, after selling its 50% stake in the Sunrise project to Cenovus Energy in a $1 billion deal, which will also see BP receive acreage off the east coast of Canada to explore and develop new oil and gas fields.

BP explained the deal ‘will shift its focus to future potential offshore growth,’ while Starlee Sykes, senior vice-president of the Gulf of Mexico and Canada, argues it ‘will position BP Canada for strong future growth.’

Exploratory drilling will last until 2026, with strong demand likely from both Canada and the USA as Russian oil remains off the market.

FTSE 100 stock: renewable plans

While rapidly changing its oil-producing mix, BP has a long-term ambition to hit net zero by 2050. Accordingly, it’s agreed to buy a 40.5% stake in the 6,500 square kilometre Asian Renewable Energy Hub in Pilbara, Western Australia, for an undisclosed sum.

The project, which will cost more than $30 billion to develop, counts Intercontinental Energy, CWP Global and Macquarie as partners. BP argues it has ‘the potential to be one of the largest renewables and green hydrogen hubs in the world,’ hoping to develop 26GW of solar and wind power and 1.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year.

Executive vice-president of gas and low-carbon energy Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath contends that ‘AREH can be a cornerstone project for us in helping our local and global customers and partners in meeting their net zero and energy commitments.’

And encouragingly, the VP expects it to represent ‘a material contribution’ to BP’s plans to corner 10% of the global hydrogen market. The FTSE 100 company projects that low-carbon hydrogen will make up 15% of the global energy mix by 2050, and will account for 40% of BP’s capital expenditure by 2030.

The oil major will become the development’s operator from 1 July, subject to Australian regulatory approval.

The FTSE 100 supermajor has also appointed veteran Felipe Arbelaez to lead its new hydrogen unit, which plans to take on 100 more employees through 2022.

Arbelaez thinks ‘the desire to progress the hydrogen market is really accelerating across all nations and particularly in Europe, Asia and the United States,’ augmented by the wish for ‘security of supply of energy, particularly in the European context on the back of the Ukrainian conflict.’

This leaves BP’s share price dip as a potential FTSE 100 buying opportunity.


This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients.
CFDs are a leveraged products. CFD trading may not be suitable for everyone and can result in losses that exceed your initial deposit, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.

Act on stock opportunities today

Go long or short on thousands of international stocks with CFDs.

  • Get full exposure for a comparatively small deposit
  • Trade on spreads from just 0.1%
  • Get greater order book visibility with direct market access

See opportunity on a stock?

Try a risk-free trade in your demo account, and see whether you’re on to something.

  • Log in to your demo
  • Try a risk-free trade
  • See whether your hunch pays off

See opportunity on a stock?

Don’t miss your chance – upgrade to a live account to take advantage.

  • Trade a huge range of popular stocks
  • Analyse and deal seamlessly on fast, intuitive charts
  • See and react to breaking news in-platform

See opportunity on a stock?

Don’t miss your chance. Log in to take advantage while conditions prevail.

Live prices on most popular markets

  • Forex
  • Shares
  • Indices

Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.

Plan your trading week

Get the week’s market-moving news sent directly to your inbox every Friday. The Week Ahead gives you a full calendar of upcoming economic events, as well as commentary from our expert analysts on the key markets to watch.

For more info on how we might use your data, see our privacy notice and access policy and privacy webpage.

You might be interested in…

Find out what charges your trades could incur with our transparent fee structure.

Discover why so many clients choose us, and what makes us a world-leading provider of CFDs.

Stay on top of upcoming market-moving events with our customisable economic calendar.