What should we make of this humungous sum, which is BP's trading deficit for the second quarter of 2020? Many who long for peak oil will no doubt rejoice, although BP's shareholders might not be amongst them. NB, I am not, as far as I am aware, one of them.
Perhaps longer-term investors in BP ought to take a crumb of comfort from these figures (and the half-dividend that came with them), particularly as the company did not actually lose this sum trading. It's mainly accounted for by a write-down of asset (oil & gas) values. That's to say, a more realistic valuation of the fossil fuels they currently own. We should, perhaps, all be cheered by more realism, especially as it seems more than likely that the economy (and our lifestyles) will need resilient fossil fuel companies for some considerable time to come.
More details here in The Times.
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