London, May 16, 2026, 15:07 BST
BP shares in London start Monday with some lift after closing Friday at 552.20 pence, up 2.13%. The FTSE 100 dropped 1.7% for its steepest fall in over eight weeks. BP finished the week up about 3%, with a boost from stronger oil prices and more signals it’s focused on cash and trading moves.
London is closed for the weekend, so BP traders won’t react until Monday when they’ll come back to two main things: an oil spike tied to the Strait of Hormuz and BP’s own efforts to bring down debt. Brent crude, the key global oil price, finished Friday up 3.35% at $109.26 a barrel as hopes ebbed for quick fixes to shipping snarls in the region.
BP has a boost from higher oil, but it’s not all good news. Rising prices help earnings for oil producers, but also push up inflation. That pressure hurt UK stocks, bonds and sterling on Friday, with investors uneasy about politics and borrowing costs. Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said markets are wary of the UK moving toward a more left-leaning leadership. Evangelos Assimakos of Rathbones said investors need to “digest that disappointment” over stalled global talks. Reuters
BP is planning to break up its pipeline gas trading team and move staff over to liquefied natural gas, Reuters said Friday. The company wouldn’t comment, but the report said about 20 jobs are at risk and the rest of the team would be merged into the LNG business.
BP’s latest move tracks with what new CEO Meg O’Neill has been saying. When reporting first-quarter numbers, BP stuck to its message that O’Neill wants to simplify the company, “unlock growth,” and boost returns—while keeping net debt reduction in focus. Net debt went up to $25.3 billion by quarter-end, up from $22.2 billion three months ago. BP still aims to bring net debt down to between $14 billion and $18 billion by the end of 2027. bp global
BP is weighing a sale of some Egyptian natural gas assets, Reuters reported Friday, citing four sources. The company has poured more than $35 billion into Egypt over the past 60 years and has supplied about 60% of the nation’s natural gas from joint ventures and operated fields. But BP’s gas production in Egypt dropped to 518 million cubic feet per day in 2025, about 40% lower than in 2024.
BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies run big trading desks that look to profit from price gaps across regions and time, unlike Exxon Mobil and Chevron, which have mostly used trading to optimize their own systems. Last month, Reuters put first-quarter trading desk profits for BP, Shell and TotalEnergies at a minimum of $2.5 billion. David Hewitt at Hewitt Energy Perspectives called BP’s use of “exceptional” to describe trading results “telling.” Reuters
BP shares had another point for investors to watch. The ordinary stock went ex-dividend on May 14—so buyers after that day do not get the most recent dividend. Record date followed on May 15, with payment expected June 26. Shares can dip when they go ex-div, so BP’s Friday climb was notable given the softer index.
Labour risk is on the radar ahead of Monday, as BP and the United Steelworkers union are set to meet over the Whiting, Indiana refinery. The site is the Midwest’s largest, with capacity of 440,000 barrels a day. About 800 workers have been locked out since March 19. Union local president Eric Schultz said the union wants BP to lift the lockout and drop plans for job and pay cuts.
BP could keep trading better than the FTSE 100 in the near term if Brent remains around Friday’s price. Analysts are mostly positive, with Reuters’ BP.L stock page showing 25 covering the stock and the consensus at “Outperform.” The FTSE 100 may get another rough open if gilt yields and political risk in the UK remain in the spotlight. Reuters
But the risk on the downside is clear. If disruption at Hormuz ends quickly, oil could fall and BP’s trading and producer premium could ease off. There’s still no official word on any Egypt asset sale. Vandana Hari at Vanda Insights said traders were again watching the block at Hormuz, and Phil Flynn from Price Futures Group said the room for error in oil markets is tightening.
