, Columnist
BP's Share Buybacks Are a Luxury It Can’t Afford
Meg O'Neill deserves a clean slate when she takes charge of BP in April.
Photographer: Samsul Said/BloombergHaving weathered a few horrid years, BP Plc’s shareholders will need to accept more financial suffering in 2026. It pains me to make this recommendation, but the British oil major should cancel its $750 million quarterly share buyback program and use the money to reduce its debts.
Suspending the buybacks can be seen either as part of the creative destruction needed to reinvent BP, or the inevitable consequence of years of terrible management. Either way, the company’s investors have weathered a lot of pain over the last two decades — especially when compared with the positive returns delivered by all of its major competitors.