London, May 4, 2026, 13:53 BST
BP PLC is weighing a sale of part or all of its UK North Sea operations, Bloomberg News reported, a move that could raise about 2 billion pounds ($2.72 billion) and deepen new CEO Meg O’Neill’s push to cut debt and steer capital back toward oil and gas projects with higher returns. The review is internal, and the plans may not lead to a deal, the report said.
The timing is awkward and important. London trading is shut on Monday for the Early May Bank Holiday, so investors have not had a fresh local session to react; BP last closed lower on Friday, when Reuters said the shares fell just over 2% amid broader market weakness.
BP’s North Sea position is not small, even if the basin is ageing. The company operates five key production hubs there, including Clair, the largest oilfield on the UK continental shelf, Reuters reported, citing BP’s website.
The possible sale also fits the harder balance-sheet story around BP. A filing showed first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit — BP’s preferred profit measure, which strips out inventory gains and some one-off items — rose to $3.20 billion from $1.38 billion a year earlier, while net debt stood at $25.31 billion at the end of March.
Trading did much of the heavy lifting. BP’s customers and products unit, which houses refining and oil trading, posted $3.20 billion of underlying profit before interest and tax, up from $677 million a year earlier, and BP described its oil trading contribution as “exceptional.” SEC
O’Neill, in her first results since taking the top job in April, told Reuters: “We’re controlling what we can control,” referring to efforts to lift output elsewhere as Middle East disruption hit flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported BP had been exporting around 100,000 barrels per day through the route from Iraq and Abu Dhabi, plus 5% to 10% of its liquefied natural gas portfolio. Reuters
The company is already spelling out the cash discipline. BP said it is targeting $14 billion to $18 billion of net debt by the end of 2027, expects 2026 capital spending of $13 billion to $13.5 billion, and plans $9 billion to $10 billion of divestment proceeds this year, including about $6 billion from the announced Castrol transaction.
The North Sea review would put BP in line with a wider retreat by some majors from mature UK offshore assets. Chevron, Shell and TotalEnergies have sold assets in the basin or reworked their positions, Reuters reported.
But the sale case is not clean. A full exit may not happen, and any valuation would have to clear questions around oil prices, taxes, buyers’ appetite and decommissioning liabilities, the long-term cost of shutting and cleaning up old offshore fields. BP also warned that second-quarter upstream production would be lower than in the first quarter because of seasonal maintenance in the Gulf of America and disruption in the Middle East.
For O’Neill, the North Sea review is another early test of whether BP can turn a war-driven trading windfall into a steadier investment case. The market has seen the profit beat. What it still has to judge is how much of BP’s old portfolio the new chief is prepared to sell.
