By Liz Hampton, U.S. Energy Editor 

Hello Power Up readers! Oil prices are relatively flat this morning after posting a decline last week. Brent crude futures had closed down 0.4%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures had settled down 0.5%. The market awaits clarity on talks to end the war in Ukraine, which could lead to an easing of sanctions on Russian oil, as well as the prospect of the resumption of crude exports from northern Iraq.

On Monday, Brent crude futures were trading at $74.47 a barrel, up 5 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was trading at $70.36 a barrel, down 7 cents. U.S. Henry Hub natural gas futures were at $3.95 per million British thermal units, down 6.8%.

BP is ditching plans to increase renewable generation targets and refocusing on fossil fuels as it has come under investor pressure. The company is also cutting some 5% of its staff and looking at other divestitures.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

There’s been a lot going on at big oil companies around the globe in recent weeks, from restructurings at oilfield services company SLB to job cuts at Chevron and BP. And more changes are on the way.

BP’s chief executive is planning to scrap a target to increase renewable generation 20-fold by 2030, as the British major focuses on fossil fuels, Arunima Kumar and Anousha Sakoui exclusively reported on Monday. This strategy shift coincides with investor concerns and will be announced on Wednesday, when BP holds its capital markets day.

In October, BP dropped its target to cut oil and gas output by 2030. Its shares have underperformed rivals in recent years. They were down slightly on Monday.

CEO Murray Auchincloss has been reducing investments in renewables and is planning to cut staff by 5%.

Pressure on BP has intensified since activist investor Elliott Investment Management built up nearly a 5% stake in the company.

Meanwhile, Chevron on Monday said its Oil, Products, and Gas organization would be split into two separate segments: Upstream and Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals. The company in a news release said this was part of its effort to simplify its organizational structure.

Earlier this month, the company said it would lay off up to 20% of its workforce by the end of 2026. That would total some 8,000 people. 

Chevron’s oil and gas reserves have dipped to their lowest point in at least a decade, as its planned acquisition of U.S. producer Hess has stalled due to a court battle with Exxon Mobil.

French power company EDF said it does not expect to make a final decision on building six new nuclear reactors until the second half of 2026. French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022 announced a plan for the state-owned utility to build out the new reactors, with construction set to begin in 2027.

The British government last week laid out plans to speed up its green energy build-out. The reforms target its flagship Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme and aim to remove planning barriers, especially for offshore wind farms. 

Air Liquide last week said two of six previously awarded hydrogen projects for the U.S. Department of Energy would likely move forward after U.S. President Donald Trump froze funding for clean energy development. France's Air Liquide was chosen in 2023 as a partner in those projects by the DOE, which had planned to allocate $7 billion for them under Biden's infrastructure law. 

Brazil's state energy company Petrobras may cancel a tender to charter a production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) from India's Shapoorji Pallonji Energy, Rodrigo Viga Gaier reported on Friday. Petrobras believes the bid by the Indian company was too high, at $1.5 million per day.

The U.S. oil and gas rig count climbed to its highest level since June last week, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday. The rig count rose by four to 592. That is 5% below year-ago levels. 

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