This is not only a health, economic and social crisis. The crisis unleashed by the coronavirus is a systemic one, which has not spared even the oil giants. With the reduction in energy demand and the global halt of the transport sector as contributing factors, oil demand also saw a fall in prices in recent weeks. This contingency has led Bernard Looney, chief executive of British Petroleum (Bp) – the oil company responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster –, to state that he is "more convinced than ever" that now is the moment for the energy transition, and that the impact of the pandemic has given fresh impetus to the company's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint to zero.

"I am more convinced than ever that this is the right thing to do," Bernard Looney told the Guardian. "And we must continue down this path. The pandemic has only given fresh impetus to a challenge that the oil world will have to face in the medium and long term." As the Guardian reports, demand for oil may never recover to pre-pandemic levels. And this only raises serious questions about the business models of the major oil companies.

Bp has already halved its management ranks

As if that were not enough, in recent days another cold shower has arrived for Bp. At least for its senior leadership. According to an exclusive by Reuters, Looney is reportedly ready to halve the number of senior managers at the company, cutting from the current 250 to 120, and showing the door to the most senior executives in key positions. The chief executive is also said to already have the names of 100 new managers to hire in order to reinvent the company and gradually move away from the fossil fuel business. The company is reported to have maintained its planned investment of 500 million dollars in renewable energy and low-carbon technology.

Bp's announcement in February: "we are aiming for zero emissions" from oil extraction

It all began last February, when British Petroleum unveiled a new plan to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The company formalised ten commitments to drastically reduce its emissions across all operations linked to the extraction of fossil fuels. How? By halving the carbon intensity of all its products and achieving "net zero emissions" by that date for all operations linked to oil & gas production. The company currently produces around 55 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, with 360 million tonnes linked to the extraction and production sector alone.

According to Looney, "We expect to invest more in low-carbon activities – and less in oil and gas – over time. The aim is to invest wisely in businesses where we can add value, scale up and deliver competitive returns." Certainly, a great many doubts remain, raised above all by environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace, which questions how these targets will be met – whether by offsetting emissions or by ceasing to extract and produce gas and oil. And above all, it asks what the real targets are for the coming decade, the one in which we should be drastically reducing emissions across all sectors, if we are to remain on the trajectory of a 1.5°C temperature increase.