BP has announced it will "reset" its ethos by being "selective" with investment for electric vehicle charging, as well as the rollout of biogas and biofuels.
The British fossil fuel giant announced it would fundamentally reset its strategy by increasing investment into oil and gas by around $10billion (£7.9billion) per year.
It said this would help move the company in the right direction, while also cutting planned funding for renewables by more than $5billion (£3.9billion).
The "reset" will include focused investment in biogas, biofuels and EV charging, which will be driven by returns.
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BP has announced plans to increase fossil fuel spending
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It is expected that this will involve high grading projects, leveraging existing infrastructure and focusing on fewer key markets.
According to Zapmap, BP Pulse is the third largest rapid or ultra-rapid EV chargepoint operator in the UK with 1,439, falling just behind Instavolt (1,828) and Tesla Supercharger (1,802).
It is also more than double that of its fossil fuel rival, Shell Recharge, which operates 673 chargers around the UK.
Murray Auchincloss, chief executive of BP, said: "We are reducing and reallocating capital expenditure to our highest-returning businesses to drive growth, and relentlessly pursuing performance improvements and cost efficiency."
While BP is looking to increase shareholder value, its shares were down by one per cent in the hours following the "reset" announcement.
Previous CEO Bernard Looney pledged in 2020 to cut oil and gas output by 40 per cent, alongside a rapid increase of renewables by the end of the decade.
BP now has plans to grow oil and gas production to between 2.3 million and 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2030.
The move has been met with stern backlash from climate change campaigners, who warn this will have a devastating impact on fossil fuel production and global warming.
Global Witness campaigners took aim at BP CEO Murray Auchincloss
GLOBAL WITNESS
Campaigners from Global Witness have protested in London outside BP's headquarters, a BP petrol station, Parliament Square and the QEII Centre to slam the decision.
The organisation accuses BP of "greenwashing" and abandoning its climate targets while bashing CEO Murray Auchincloss for "leadership by flip-flop".
Alexander Kirk, a Global Witness campaigner, highlighted that BP had previously set bold climate goals, backed by a "massive public relations campaign".
He added: "Now, while the world is reeling from fossil-fuel driven extreme weather, BP is widely expected to double down on the oil and gas creating climate breakdown.
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Campaigners accused BP of greenwashing in its latest fossil fuel investment
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"So why the U-turn? BP appears to be focusing on short-term profits to shareholders while energy prices are high, with the rest of the world picking up the tab from its climate-wrecking products.
"This is a company that cannot be trusted to deliver the clean energy transition. Fossil fuel companies like BP must be forced to pay for the climate damages they cause."
