Today’s Key Takeaways: BP shifting back to its oil and gas heritage. Pantheon names native Alaskan as new CEO. Philippines look to AK for LNG. Pebble permit lawsuit put on hold as new administration reviews litigation.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
BP faces ‘existential crisis’ after ruinous attempt to go green
Jonathan Leake, Ben Marlow, The Telegraph, February 23, 2025
The British energy giant faces humiliation as the oil industry’s biggest loser on net zero
It was meant to be the moment when one of Britain’s most powerful companies broke decisively with its fossil fuel past.
Addressing journalists and executives at the Royal Lancaster Hotel overlooking Hyde Park, Bernard Looney, BP’s new chief executive, urged them to “reimagine” his company as a champion of green power.
By 2030, BP would have cut oil and gas production by 40pc, he pledged, with the lost fossil fuel income replaced by wind farms, solar parks and biofuels made from plants.
He said: “BP has been an international oil company for over a century … Now we are pivoting to become an integrated energy company.
“We believe our new strategy provides a comprehensive and coherent approach to turn our net zero ambition into action. This coming decade is critical for the world in the fight against climate change.”
Five years on from that speech in February 2020, the company is beleaguered by a ruthless activist investor, under pressure to boost its flatlining share price and considering a return to the oil and gas exploration that made it so successful to begin with.
The abrupt turn follows decades of crisis at one of Britain’s most venerable institutions. Today, its future is more uncertain than ever.
The net zero plans unveiled by Looney have hammered profits and generated intense speculation about a takeover, break up or even a merger with arch-rival Shell.
This month the fears became real with revelations that Elliott, a Florida-based hedge fund and corporate raider, has built a £3.8bn stake in BP – and is laying siege to the company.
On Wednesday, BP will face the ultimate test at its capital markets day when Murray Auchincloss, the company’s current chief executive, will seek to persuade skeptical investors that he can deliver a “fundamental reset.”
To win round doubters, he is expected to announce a major break with the last five years – shifting away from net zero and back towards its oil and gas heritage.
OIL:
London-based Pantheon Resources names new chief executive | Upstream
Robert Stewart, Upstream, February 21, 2025
Pantheon Resources, which holds interests in Alaska, tabs Max Easley as chief executive
London-based Pantheon Resources, which operates in Alaska’s North Slope, has named Max Easley as its new chief executive, effective next week.
Easley, 57, will replace Jay Cheatham, who led Pantheon for 17 years and will remain with the company as a non-executive director “for a period of handover”.
A native Alaskan, Easley has held positions at BP, Apache and Petronas Canada, according to Pantheon. He graduated from the University of Alaska in 1991, and he cut his teeth as a petroleum engineer in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay.
Easley’s appointment is “another key step” for Pantheon, which says it is considering listing in the US.
“Pantheon will benefit from his more than 30 years of experience in the oil and natural gas industry, particularly his experience on Alaska’s North Slope and successful Permian and Montney developments,” Pantheon executive chairman David Hobbs said in a statement.
“This deep industry expertise, coupled with his strategic judgment and performance track record make him the ideal candidate to execute upon Pantheon’s strategy. Under Max’s leadership, the Company will be well positioned to shift from an exploration to a development and production company in short order.”
Pantheon operates the Ahpun and Kodiak fields on Alaska’s North Slope. The company also has a supply deal in place with the proposed $44 billion Alaska LNG project.
GAS:
PH eyes Alaska as potential liquefied natural gas source
Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippines News Agency, February 23, 2025
The Philippines is considering importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Alaska as the Trump administration sets its sights on reviving its long-delayed USD44 billion gas pipeline project.
Alaska earlier secured President Donald Trump’s backing to develop the Alaska LNG project, which can process and transport up to 20 million tons of LNG annually.
The project aims to connect the gas fields from northern Alaska to a port in the south for liquefaction and export, primarily to the Asian market.
“We plan to procure LNG from Alaska to meet our growing needs to develop our energy sector,” Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez posted on X Saturday.
“Pres. (Ferdinand) Marcos (Jr.) hopes to discuss this and other matters of mutual benefit and interest for both our countries when he meets with Pres. Trump at the soonest possible time.”
There is no specific timeline as of yet but the envoy said the two governments are working to set a bilateral meeting between the two leaders within the year.
Romualdez said the Alaskan offer would help the country secure a stable supply of LNG on top of getting it at a competitive price.
“Similar to what Japan that made a commitment, we are prepared to make a commitment to be able to buy some of that LNG. This is being offered to us matagal na (way back) by US Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska),” he told the Philippine News Agency.
“They have an abundant supply, so we might be able to get it very cheap—That’s what we are hearing from them that’s why we are considering it as part of our energy mix,” he added.
On Feb. 20, officials of the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC met with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy who said steps are being taken to implement Trump’s “America First” priority of supporting Alaskan LNG exports.
MINING:
Pebble lawsuit on hold for leadership change
A.J. Roan, North of 60 Mining News, February 21, 2025
Northern Dynasty agrees to 90-day pause as EPA, Army Corps leadership changes under new administration.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Feb. 18 announced that its subsidiary, Pebble Limited Partnership, has agreed to a 90-day pause requested by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), allowing new agency leadership time to review the ongoing litigation over the federal veto that has blocked development of the world-class copper-gold project in Southwest Alaska.
After years of regulatory back-and-forth, the permitting battle over Pebble escalated in 2020 when USACE denied federal permits for the project, citing potential impacts to the Bristol Bay watershed.
This decision came despite a previously completed Environmental Impact Statement that found the project could be developed without harming the region’s world-class salmon fishery.
In the aftermath, Northern Dynasty pushed for reconsideration, arguing that the permit denial was “flawed and politically motivated.” Meanwhile, the state of Alaska, which holds ownership over the lands Pebble is located on, contested the decision as federal overreach that undermined its constitutional right to manage its own resources.
Those efforts were ultimately blocked in early 2023 when EPA took the unprecedented step of issuing a Clean Water Act Section 404(c) determination, preemptively vetoing any mining activity within a 309-square-mile area of state-owned land – effectively shutting down the project and overriding Alaska’s authority.
In response, both Northern Dynasty and the state filed lawsuits against the EPA, arguing that the agency’s decision unlawfully stripped Alaska of its rights and set a dangerous precedent for future resource development.
The legal battle intensified last year when USACE confirmed it could not reconsider its permit denial due to the EPA’s veto, reinforcing claims that the agencies had worked in tandem to block the project.
In mid-2024, the U.S. Federal District Court in Alaska allowed Northern Dynasty to amend its lawsuit, adding the Army Corps as a defendant and asserting that both agencies had acted beyond their authority to preemptively halt the permitting process.
Now, with the transition of power in Washington, D.C., the Biden-era EPA and Army Corps leadership are being replaced, and the new administration has begun a broad rollback of environmental regulations and permitting restrictions.
In anticipation of these changes, EPA and Army Corps have requested a 90-day abeyance in the ongoing litigation over Pebble’s permit veto, allowing time for incoming leadership to assess the case.
Northern Dynasty did not oppose the request, viewing the pause as a chance to reevaluate the decision under a new regulatory approach.
“Given the timing of the recent confirmation of the Administrator of the EPA, the executive orders by President Trump and comments made by the new administration regarding the need for science and facts and domestic critical mineral production, we are not objecting to this request for abeyance by the defendants,” said Northern Dynasty President and CEO Ron Thiessen. “The 90-day period will give the new administration time to familiarize themselves with the issues presented in this case and to decide how they wish to proceed. We believe the EPA acted inappropriately when they vetoed any mining activity on the world’s largest undeveloped copper deposit, the Pebble project.”
