BP Alternative Energy boss refutes sell-off rumours
Washington, 6 March: The head of BP’s alternative energy division has denied rumours that the company is planning to divest its renewable energy business.

“No decision has been made” on the future of the unit, Vivienne Cox, its chief executive, told Environmental Finance on the sidelines of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) on Tuesday.

But she stressed that if BP did decide to sell part of its renewable energy division it would retain overall control – putting the dampeners on speculation that BP is planning to pull out of renewable energy.

Her comments follow a presentation to investors and analysts by BP chief executive Tony Hayward on 27 February in which he said that the stock market is not taking into account the value in BP’s alternative energy unit, and that the company was looking at ways to “realise that value for shareholders”, Reuters reported.

However, Cox said that analysts had misinterpreted his use of “realise value”. She said that the first step for BP would be to provide the market with information about the renewable energy business to help shareholders better assess its worth.

If that did not change market perceptions of its value, then BP might consider floating part of the business, but Cox stressed that it was not considering selling more than a minority stake.

Speaking at the WIREC plenary, Hayward said that BP was investing more than $1 billion/year in its alternative energy business. At a later presentation to reporters, Cox said that the company is to double its level of investment between 2007 and 2008, to $1.5 billion.