- Big payouts a feature for big oil
- Operating performances are solid
Energy prices may be out of their control, but despite cost pressures, geopolitical risk and high capex needs (exacerbated by their need to walk the energy transition tightrope), BP and Shell still prioritise giving back to investors. Enormous buyback programmes have been reaffirmed after quarterly updates, along with dividend payouts.
Big oil divides opinion like no other sector and it’s not just how companies should be approaching their crucial role in curtailing humanity’s influence on climate change. How to balance the need for enormous capital expenditure (with inevitable controversy around how this is split between fossil fuel and green energy activities) and rewarding the shareholders supporting their endeavours is another vital question.
