BP
bp's Azeri Central East (ACE) platform in the Caspian Sea is its most technologically advanced offshore platform, designed to produce up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. bp's Cherry Point refinery has doubled its renewable diesel capacity, and the company aims to expand its convenience and EV charging businesses significantly by 2030.
Azeri Central East (ACE) Platform
The Azeri Central East (ACE) platform is bp's most technologically and digitally advanced offshore platform. Located in the Caspian Sea, it began production in April 2024 and is designed to produce up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. The ACE platform is expected to deliver up to 300 million barrels over its lifetime and became bp's first platform to be controlled from onshore. It is a significant part of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field development, featuring a fully automated drilling rig and innovative engineering to lower operational emissions.
Cherry Point Refinery
bp's Cherry Point refinery, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, can process approximately 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day on average. Recently, the refinery doubled its renewable diesel capacity to more than 7,000 barrels a day. This increase allows it to convert waste vegetable oil and animal fat into fuel for cars and trucks. The Cherry Point refinery is a key part of bp's strategy to expand its renewable energy capabilities.
Convenience Business and EV Charging Expansion
bp's convenience business aims to double its gross margin to $3 billion by 2030, up from $1.5 billion in 2022. The company plans to expand its number of strategic convenience sites globally from 1,600 in 2022 to around 3,500 by 2030. Additionally, bp is investing around $15 billion in convenience and EV charging infrastructure between 2023 and 2030. One notable project is the Gigahub™ in Birmingham, UK, which can charge up to 180 cars at a time, making it the largest public EV charging hub in the UK.
Financial Performance
In the first quarter of 2024, bp reported an underlying replacement cost profit of $2.7 billion. The company also announced a $1.75 billion share buyback for the same period. Looking ahead, bp aims to deliver at least $2 billion in cash cost savings by the end of 2026. These financial strategies reflect bp's commitment to maintaining a strong balance sheet and delivering value to shareholders.
Project Investments
bp's ACE platform represents the first major investment decision by the ACG partnership since the extended ACG production sharing agreement was signed in 2017. Constructed at the Bayil fabrication yard near Baku, the ACE platform's jacket weighs 16,000 tonnes and stands 153 meters high, while its topsides unit weighs 19,600 tonnes. The platform includes new infield pipelines to transfer oil and gas to the existing ACG Phase 2 oil and gas export pipelines for transportation to the onshore Sangachal terminal, illustrating bp's ongoing commitment to advanced engineering and infrastructure projects.