By Ron Bousso
LONDON (Reuters) -BP said on Tuesday it remained committed to its financial and carbon reduction ambitions, as interim Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss hosted an investor day in Denver.
It was Auchincloss’s first major investor event since taking the helm after Bernard Looney abruptly stepped down as CEO last month for failing to fully disclose relationships with colleagues.
“BP’s strategy, financial frame and net zero ambition are unchanged,” the energy group said in a statement.
“BP remains focused on delivering its strategy safely, with disciplined delivery, quarter-on-quarter, to meet 2025 targets and 2030 aims.”
The company aims to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050 and to invest billions in renewable and low-carbon power. In February, BP scaled back plans to reduce oil and gas output by 2030 to 25% from 40% from 2019 levels.
In the presentation, BP also raised its forecast for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) from oil and gas businesses for 2030 by $2 billion to $41 to $44 billion at an average oil price of $70 a barrel.
EBITDA for the whole company, including its renewables and low-carbon businesses, is now forecast to reach $53 to $58 billion, compared with $51 to $56 billion previously.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso;Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Susan Fenton and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
