BP to pull out of trade groups over climate policies

The oil giant is pulling out of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the Western States Petroleum Association, said several industry members who spoke on the condition of anonymity pending the formal announcement. BP might also pull out of a third association.

But BP is expected to remain in the American Petroleum Institute despite the API's tough positions on climate change over the years.

On Feb. 12, BP chief executive Bernard Looney said the company would slash its own greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. He also said BP would seek to alter the positions of some trade associations to which it belongs. If that fails, he said, the company would withdraw from those groups.

In the past, BP has worked closely with the two trade groups. It has had a position on the AFPM executive committee for the past three years. And as a member of the WSPA, it poured about $13 million into the oil industry's more than $31 million campaign in 2018 to defeat a state carbon tax, or "fee," that was championed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat. BP said that it supported carbon taxes but said the one in Washington state was badly flawed because of certain exceptions.

This month, by contrast, the company has supported Washington legislation that would give the state the authority to adopt measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This followed a state supreme court decision that said the state lacked such authority.

BP is not the only oil giant to leave a trade association. Last April, Shell pulled out of the AFPM, saying it was at odds with the refining and petrochemical group on the Paris climate agreement, carbon pricing, fuel mandates and the reduction of methane emissions.

But some industry members are critical of BP for remaining a member of API while quitting less-prominent trade groups. "All of this strikes me as a cheap publicity stunt masquerading as news," said Stephen H. Brown of RBJ Strategies, an energy consultancy.