British Petroleum said on July 31 that it will sell its oil and gas business in the North Sea, ending more than 60 years of operation in the region. Industry sources analyzed that this move is related to factors such as frequent changes in the UK's energy policy in recent years and the decline in oil and gas production in the North Sea. According to Reuters, BP's new CEO Meg O'Neill said in a statement that the company plans to focus its capital on developing “the most valuable opportunity” and therefore decided to sell the North Sea oil and gas business. BP has been operating the oil and gas business in the North Sea for over 60 years. Currently, it operates 5 major production centers locally, including the Clare oil field, which is the largest on the British continental shelf. The company produced about 5% of its oil and gas from the North Sea in 2025, and the daily output was about 117,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Just one day before BP announced the sale of the North Sea business, Britain's new Prime Minister Burnham said he plans to develop and utilize North Sea oil and gas resources in a “pragmatic” manner. Chris Beacham, chief market analyst at IG Group, a multinational trading platform headquartered in London, explained: “Obviously, British Petroleum believes that at a time when there is an urgent need to develop new oil and gas fields, it is too time-consuming to wait for the new government to revive the UK's energy policy, and sitting back and waiting for the government to act is not a prudent way to use resources.” According to a Reuters report, people in the British oil and gas industry believe that Britain has adjusted its tax system for the oil and gas industry several times in recent years, and this policy uncertainty has damaged the confidence of enterprises to invest in oil and gas resources on the British continental shelf. North Sea oil and gas field production has dropped sharply from an average of 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day at the beginning of this century to an average of about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025. In recent years, multinational energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Total, and Eni have reduced their oil and gas business in the North Sea.

British Petroleum said on July 31 that it will sell its oil and gas business in the North Sea, ending more than 60 years of operation in the region. Industry sources analyzed that this move is related to factors such as frequent changes in the UK's energy policy in recent years and the decline in oil and gas production in the North Sea. According to Reuters, BP's new CEO Meg O'Neill said in a statement that the company plans to focus its capital on developing “the most valuable opportunity” and therefore decided to sell the North Sea oil and gas business. BP has been operating the oil and gas business in the North Sea for over 60 years. Currently, it operates 5 major production centers locally, including the Clare oil field, which is the largest on the British continental shelf. The company produced about 5% of its oil and gas from the North Sea in 2025, and the daily output was about 117,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Just one day before BP announced the sale of the North Sea business, Britain's new Prime Minister Burnham said he plans to develop and utilize North Sea oil and gas resources in a “pragmatic” manner. Chris Beacham, chief market analyst at IG Group, a multinational trading platform headquartered in London, explained: “Obviously, British Petroleum believes that at a time when there is an urgent need to develop new oil and gas fields, it is too time-consuming to wait for the new government to revive the UK's energy policy, and sitting back and waiting for the government to act is not a prudent way to use resources.” According to a Reuters report, people in the British oil and gas industry believe that Britain has adjusted its tax system for the oil and gas industry several times in recent years, and this policy uncertainty has damaged the confidence of enterprises to invest in oil and gas resources on the British continental shelf. North Sea oil and gas field production has dropped sharply from an average of 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day at the beginning of this century to an average of about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025. In recent years, multinational energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Total, and Eni have reduced their oil and gas business in the North Sea.