The renewables pipeline at BP ended the first quarter at almost 40GW, with growth coming thanks to its Lightsource BP solar joint venture.
The 38.8GW pipeline net to BP grew by 1.6GW in the January to March period due to additions at Lightsource BP, which now accounts for 27.2GW of the total, with offshore wind and onshore wind flat at 5.3GW and 6.3GW respectively.
The group said there are another 9.9GW of "early stage opportunities" in Lightsource BP's project hopper.
BP reported more than $8bn in net profit in the first quarter of 2023, marking a strong turnround against a heavy loss one year prior as the company announced a new round of share buybacks.
Profits attributable to shareholders stood at $8.2bn for the three months ended 31 March compared with a $20.4bn loss in the same period of 2022.
The company noted an underlying replacement cost profit of $5bn in Q1 2023 compared with $4.8bn in the previous quarter, a product of “exceptional gas marketing and trading, lower refinery turnaround activity and a very strong oil trading result”.
This was ahead of the $4.3bn forecast by analysts, according to the BBC.
“This has been a quarter of strong performance and strategic delivery as we continue to focus on safe and reliable operations,” said BP chief executive Bernard Looney.
“We continue to deliver for shareholders, through disciplined investment, lowering net debt and growing distributions.”
BP posted surplus cash flow of $2.3bn in the period and has announced its intention to carry out an additional share buyback of $1.75bn from surplus cash flow prior to announcing its second quarter results.
During the first quarter, BP completed $2.2bn of share buybacks from surplus cash flow. The $2.75bn share buyback programme announced with the fourth quarter 2022 results was completed on 28 April 2023.
A version of this article was published first on Upstream
