BP plugs into U.S. vehicle charging market
BP has acquired California electric vehicle charging company Amply Power, as the British oil major bets that the EV market will continue to grow in the U.S.
The acquisition, announced last week during the the World Petroleum Congress in Houston, represents BP’s first big step into the competitive EV charging market in the U.S. and is part of the oil giant’s plans to help the world get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Amply Power will continue to operate independently as part of BP’s portfolio of businesses.
“As we continue to invest in new forms of infrastructure and technology to serve our global fleet customers, AMPLY Power provides an ideal opportunity to build our EV business in the US. They bring an experienced team, a rapidly expanding customer base and user-friendly digital platform,” said Richard Bartlett, BP’s senior vice president, future mobility and solutions.
Oil majors, particularly in Europe, are investing in EV chargers as demand for electric vehicles is expected to grow in the coming decades. BP is planning to increase the size of its global network of charging points to 70,000 by 2030 from around 11,000 today.
The lack of a robust charging network is seen as a major roadblock to mass adoption of EVs in the U.S., one of the world’s largest automotive markets. As traditional automakers roll more all-electric vehicles, EV charging companies are trying to meet the demand for public chargers.
BP, which has EV charging stations in the United Kingdom, Germany and China, plans to expand Amply Power’s network in the U.S. and bring its energy management technology to customers worldwide.
Founded in 2018, Amply Power charges fleet vehicles for customers, installing hardware, software and maintaining the charging network. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company also offers real-time monitoring of EV charging operations for its customers. — Paul Takahashi
Young students, workers are wary of oil’s future
Students pursuing oil-andgas-related degrees and young professionals in the field are increasingly skeptical that they will stay with the industry, according to a survey conducted by the World Petroleum Council’s Young Professionals Committee.
Officials with the committee surveyed 5,600 respondents from 112 countries and found that 57 percent of respondents ages 18 to 35 believe the oil and gas industry will become obsolete as the world transitions to lower carbon sources of energy. About 20 percent said they don’t think current jobs will exist in 20 years, and only about 59 percent said they see themselves having careers in oil and gas that last longer than 10 years, a decrease from the 2008 survey’s results.
Committee member Tamara Seres, of Serbia, presented the data during the World Petroleum Congress in Houston last week. Stephane Rousselet, who chairs the World Petroleum Council’s Young Professionals Committee, said the survey showed the uphill challenges the industry faces as it begins to replace an aging workforce.
That task will likely be more difficult in North America than elsewhere, the survey indicated. About 70 percent of young people involved in the industry here find it attractive, while 30 percent do not — the lowest rate of satisfaction globally. In Europe, abou t86 percent of young people involved in the industry found it attractive, with that number jumping to 93 percent in South America and rising to 95 percent or above in the rest of the world.
While the North American displeasure with the industry surprised some panelists, Ramanan Krishnamoorti, chief energy officer at the University of Houston, said the results dovetailed with what he and others have seen on campus.
He said when university officials conducted an internal survey of students, the majority said they would take a pay cut to work with a company with a solid record on the environment and social issues than make more money with a company with a lesser record.
“This has been the biggest awakening among students,” he said. “This industry is vibrant, it has great potential, but we need to add the issue of climate. Let’s not focus on the energy source, but focus on the problem at hand, which is emissions.”