London, Jan 6, 2026, 07:53 GMT — Premarket
- BP shares ended 0.6% lower on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s London open.
- TechnipFMC said BP awarded it a $600 million-$800 million contract for BP’s 20K-psi Tiber deepwater project.
- Traders are tracking oil’s direction and BP’s February results for signals on spending and shareholder returns.
BP shares (BP.L) will be in focus at the London open on Tuesday after TechnipFMC said it won a $600 million-$800 million iEPCI contract — a bundled design-to-install offshore package — from BP for its high-pressure Tiber development in the Gulf of America. BP ended Monday down 0.6% at 435.25 pence.
The award matters because investors have pressed oil majors to keep capital spending tight while returning cash through dividends and buybacks. For BP, new deepwater work tests that balance as crude prices sit near multi-year lows and the market debates how long oversupply lasts.
Energy shares have also been moving with shifting geopolitics around Venezuela and U.S. policy, which can change both near-term supply expectations and longer-run project economics. That sensitivity leaves BP exposed to headlines even when company news is quiet.
BP said it bought 3,056,563 ordinary shares on Jan. 5 as part of its ongoing buyback programme, with prices paid ranging from 428.80 pence to 442.85 pence. The company said it would transfer the shares into treasury — stock held by the company that typically does not carry voting rights or receive dividends — taking its treasury holding to 860,489,272 ordinary shares.
The buyback programme has a maximum allocation of around $750 million and is scheduled to run through Feb. 6, 2026, BP said when it launched the latest tranche. Companies use buybacks to reduce the share count, which can lift earnings per share if profits hold steady.
Oil prices were softer early Tuesday, adding another variable for BP traders. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 0.2% to $61.62 a barrel by 0450 GMT, while U.S. WTI was down 0.3% at $58.13, Reuters reported, as the market weighed ample supply and the prospect of higher Venezuelan output. “Should it increase, there will be more pressure on an already over-supplied market,” Marex analyst Ed Meir said. Reuters
BP also has Venezuela-linked exposure on the gas side. Venezuela granted BP and Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company an exploration and production licence in 2024 for the Venezuelan portion of the Manakin-Cocuina cross-border gas field, but the U.S. later revoked a previous licence it had given the partners, stalling planning, Reuters reported. BP and Shell are shareholders in Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG facility, which needs additional gas supplies.
Beyond day-to-day moves, forecasters see limited relief from the crude tape this year. A Reuters poll showed analysts expect Brent to average $61.27 a barrel in 2026 and WTI $58.15, with participants pointing to rising supply and weak demand as headwinds.
The risk for BP is that a sharper leg down in crude — whether from faster Venezuelan supply growth, weaker demand, or both — squeezes cash generation and forces tougher trade-offs between new project spending and shareholder returns. Cost inflation or execution setbacks on complex deepwater developments would add to that pressure.
