BP to Cut Pipeline Gas Trading Team as LNG Focus Intensifies
BP Shifts Strategy Towards LNG Amid Changing Market Dynamics
By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Marwa Rashad
BP's Pipeline Gas Trading Team Restructuring
LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - BP plans to dismantle its pipeline gas trading team, as the oil major focuses on expanding its liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Impact on Employees and Organizational Changes
BP will lay off around 20 people on its pipeline gas unit and will fold the remaining employees into the company's fast-growing LNG book, the sources said. The move underscores a broader shift since 2022, when Europe pivoted away from Russian pipeline gas and toward LNG.
BP declined to comment.
European Energy Trading Landscape
Trading Desks and Market Volatility
European majors have spent decades building large trading desks to profit from price gaps across regions, time periods and derivatives markets. That has enabled them to turn volatility into outsized earnings and generate billions during recent supply crises - including the latest Iran‑driven disruption - often outperforming more cautious U.S. rivals.
Declining Pipeline Gas Volumes
The declining volumes of pipeline gas traded in Europe may be a contributing factor to the layoffs at BP, one of the sources said.
LNG's Role in BP's Future
Strategic Importance of LNG
LNG is key to BP's strategy, the company has said, as the major seeks to cut debt and prioritise oil and gas projects following an ill-fated foray into renewables.
BP's Global LNG Market Presence
BP is active in the LNG market in Europe, and is a leading buyer and seller of LNG in Asia and the Middle East, with long-term sales contracts with customers in Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Singapore and Taiwan, as well as in Australia, the company said on its website.
(Reporting by Marwa Rashad and Dmitry Zhdannikov, additional reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
