LONDON, May 26, 2026, 10:24 BST
BP’s shares in London edged lower on Tuesday, losing 3.2 pence to 548.0p, down 0.6% in late-morning trade. A higher crude price didn’t give the stock a boost after the long UK weekend. BP opened at 543.1p, touched 549.2p, but never topped last Friday’s close at 551.2p, according to LSEG data from Investors Chronicle.
This matters for BP. The company is an integrated oil major, involved in producing, refining, marketing and trading oil and gas. Oil prices were climbing again as investors reconsidered how soon tensions in the Middle East might ease. That should, in theory, benefit BP.
London stocks reopened after the Spring Bank Holiday. The London Stock Exchange was running its standard session from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST. The exchange had been closed on Monday, May 25, which was set as a non-trading day.
Brent crude climbed over 2% in Asian trading to $98.21 a barrel after fresh U.S. strikes hit southern Iran, Reuters reported, shaking off earlier hopes for a quick U.S.-Iran deal. Joseph Capurso from Commonwealth Bank of Australia said, “a lot we don’t know.” Standard Chartered’s Eric Robertsen said supply problems could linger for months. Reuters
European shares edged lower, with no sign of panic. The STOXX 600 slipped 0.2% as of 0833 GMT. Brent was up more than 3%. Traders looked to see if talks might get oil moving normally again through the Strait of Hormuz, the key Gulf channel for global energy shipments. Craig Cameron, portfolio manager for Templeton Global Investments at Franklin Templeton, said investors were watching for moves to “normalize traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.” Reuters
The selling weighed on BP but Shell was down too. BP’s bigger London-listed rival slipped 0.3% to 3,195p in late trade, so the rally in crude hasn’t moved UK oil majors much higher.
BP’s stock move comes as investors look at its balance sheet. Last month, the company reported first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit of $3.2 billion, beating its own analyst forecast of $2.67 billion. The result was helped by strong performance from BP’s oil trading business during volatile markets. CEO Meg O’Neill told Reuters BP was “controlling what we can control” with efforts to boost production outside the impacted area. Reuters
Debt is still the tougher issue. BP reported last month that net debt climbed to $25.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up from just above $22 billion. The company paused share buybacks in February, aiming to use more cash to cut debt and focus on higher-return oil and gas projects.
O’Neill is changing the portfolio. Earlier this month Reuters said BP was looking at selling certain Egyptian natural gas assets, aiming to bring down debt and shift toward higher-return projects. That came after Reuters reported BP was thinking about pulling out of some or all of its UK North Sea business.
Bullish bets exist but the window is tight. Barclays last week kept its 2026 Brent oil forecast at $100 a barrel, saying risks are tilted higher because of tight stockpiles and the Hormuz closure. Before the conflict, Hormuz managed about 20% of global energy supplies.
BP’s trade setup isn’t one-way. If a fast deal opens Hormuz, oil prices could drop, trimming BP’s earnings outlook. A longer fight might keep crude high, but it risks higher shipping costs, thinner fuel margins, and weaker demand if inflation hits. That’s why BP shares fell on Tuesday. Investors aren’t just after oil gains — they’re weighing if BP can turn price moves into better cash flow and less debt.
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