BP shareholders defeat opposition to oil sands project and executive pay increase

The shareholders of British Petroleum (BP), Europe's largest oil company, managed to defeat an AGM resolution yesterday on the oil major's plan to go ahead with its controversial oil sands project in Alberta, Canada and its chief executive's pay increase.

Credit: The Pembina Institute

A group of 143 activist shareholders had tabled a resolution demanding that BP review the environment fallout of its $2.4-billion joint venture with Husky Energy on Sunrise oil sands project in Alberta.

About 85 per cent shareholders voted in favour of the company going ahead with the project, while nearly 15 per cent voting against it or abstained.

Many large BP investors like CalSTRS and CalPERS, the California state employees' and teachers' pension funds, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and ethical investor, Co-operative Asset Management in the UK had opposed the project.

These investors' prime concern in opposing the project was that extracting oil from the bitumen-drenched soil causes release of more carbon dioxide than traditional oil drilling, uses more water as well as destroys the landscape.

But the London-based BP tried to convince investors that the Sunrise oil sands project, which has yet to begin production, was crucial in helping meet the world's energy needs up to 2030.