Talk:BP/Requests by subject of article

Notice: This page is for listing update requests and errors alleged by the subject of the article, BP, by an employee who is also a Wikipedia editor.

Requests by BP editor
This page is for listing errors on the BP page to be fixed and providing resources for editors to add new material, as appropriate.

Please mark any requests that you have completed as ✅

If you review a request and do not wish to complete it, please mark this as ❌ and leave an explanation.

Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 15:34, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Duplication and inaccuracy: Sale of BP's wind farms
Below is an outstanding request that I had made on the main BP talk page, related to details that are duplicated in the article. I've moved this here as the discussion on the BP talk page has now been archived.

I have moved over the initial request and the most recent reply, please see the archived discussion on the BP talk page if you would like any further details.

Sale of BP's wind farms

 * Also within the "Alternative energy" section there is repetition of the claim that BP's sale of wind farms was part of its divestment program to raise funds following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I would also like to point out that this information is inaccurate because BP had already sold or committed to sell $38 billion in assets by the time the wind farms were offered for sale. The $38 billion divestment target was met in December 2012, while the wind farms were put up for sale in April 2013. See the this Bloomberg article from February, which states "BP reached its $38 billion divestment target a year early." (The target for the divestment had been the end of 2013.) Here is the current section:


 * The sale of BP's wind farms was also part of the program to raise $38 billion from assets sales meant to cover costs relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill BP said that the sale of their wind unit was "not an exit from alternative energy", citing its continued ethanol production and biofuel research.  The sale of the wind business was motivated in part by the company's need to sell assets to help finance the costs of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Note from July 11, 2013: After some discussion Figureofnine suggested an edit should be made, however editors have not made this change yet. Here is Figureofnine's comment (for reference the Bloomberg article he is referring to is this one, citation 4 from the current information quoted above):


 * The Bloomberg article actually separates the $38 billion in asset sales from the sale of the wind farms. It says: "BP Plc (BP/), attempting to recover from an oil spill that may cost it $42 billion, said it will sell shares in wind assets worth as much as $3.1 billion in the U.S. in another step to focus on its main oil and gas business." It then says "Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley has sold $38 billion in oil fields, pipelines and refineries to concentrate BP on its most profitable assets after the 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico." As you can see, this source does not really support the position that the wind farms were to be sold to meet the divestment target. I don't see the problem with altering the article to make it in line with the Bloomberg article. As for a correction, I think that such a step would make difficulties such as this less trying for you. Figureofnine (talk • contribs) 23:18, 10 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I removed the second mentioning of being motivated by DWH as repetition. Beagel (talk) 09:04, 17 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Beagel, thanks for removing that one sentence. I am happy to see the repetitive information removed, however the remaining sentence connects the sale of BP's wind farms to the $38 billion divestment target, which is incorrect. I think that this should be removed, or perhaps rewritten.


 * If you see Figureofnine's comment above you will see that he points to the Bloomberg source that was previously used in the article, which is clear that the sale of the wind farms was not part of this divestment goal. As my first message explains, BP reached the goal of $38 billion in February 2013 and the wind farms were put up for sale in April 2013. This is the source I had shared that confirms this. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 18:06, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

✅ Beagel removed the incorrect mention of the sale's link to the divestment goal. Arturo at BP (talk) 14:41, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Sale of wind farms canceled
On July 29th BP announced that the wind farms were no longer for sale. This was covered by several sources:
 * Renewable Energy World
 * Electric Light & Power
 * reNews
 * Reuters

Following this announcement, the article needs to be updated in a few places to reflect that the sale is not going ahead.

The eighth paragraph of the "United States" section mentions the sale:


 * The company's alternative energy operations based in the US include 16 wind farms. However, the company has announced a plan to sell its wind energy unit in the United States.

The "Alternative and low carbon energy" section, which I had briefly discussed with Beagel above, should also be updated. The third paragraph here reads:


 * BP withdrew from solar power in December 2011 and scrapped investment in a carbon-capture project in Scotland. In April 2013, BP put its wind energy unit up for sale, to shift its focus more to its main oil and gas businesses. Once the sale is consummated, BP's renewable energy business will be limited to biofuels research and ethanol refining in Brazil, which was also described as "a handful of biofuels businesses and low-key research projects." In the United States, BP had built or purchased 16 wind farms with total gross capacity of around 2,600 megawatts and another 2,000 MW under development.   The sale of BP's wind farms was also part of the program to raise $38 billion from assets sales meant to cover costs relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  BP said that the sale of their wind unit was "not an exit from alternative energy", citing its continued ethanol production and biofuel research.

There are a few parts of this paragraph that should be updated including the use of the phrase "Once the sale is consummated," and the now outdated information about the wind farms being for sale.

I would also like to again address the inaccurate information in this section that states the wind farms were put up for sale to raise funds to cover the Deepwater Horizon oil spill costs. This is discussed in more detail above under the "Sale of BP's wind farms" section, so please also see that. I would like to point out that the four sources I have shared about the wind farms being removed from the market all mention that the sale was part of BP's efforts to focus more on its oil and gas projects, not to cover oil spill costs. The Reuters article is the only one that mentions the oil spill and says:


 * The sale was seen as a continuation of the retreat of big oil companies from renewable energy investments while oil and gas projects offer them better returns.


 * It would also have helped fund BP's oil spill costs along with the $38 billion worth of assets it has already sold since the 2010 spill.

This clearly shows that the sale of the farms was separate to the $38 billion divestment goal.

Thanks for looking over this. I hope someone is able to update this now outdated information and correct the false information in the "Alternative and low carbon energy" section. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 14:32, 1 August 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ Beagel updated the article to note the canceled sale. Arturo at BP (talk) 14:41, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Both parts of this request have been completed, so I have collapsed this discussion. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 14:41, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Deepwater Horizon oil spill: new sources June 2013
June 14: Recent sources on the end to the oil cleanup in three states, following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill:
 * Coast Guard, BP end Gulf cleanup in 3 states, CNN, June 11
 * Cleanup Work After BP Oil Spill End in 3 States, Associated Press, June 10
 * BP, Coast Guard to End Active Cleanup in Three States After 2010 Spill, Wall Street Journal, June 10

BP Fortune Global 500 ranking
Fortune's 2013 Global 500 rankings were released a little while ago. These new rankings list BP as the sixth-largest company, by revenue, though the article currently refers to BP as the fifth-largest company in a couple of places. Here are the places in the article where I have found the outdated information. (I believe these are all of them.) The second sentence of the introduction. The first sentence of the "Corporate affairs" section. However, I do not believe that two sources at the end of this sentence need to be replaced, as both of them currently list BP as being ranked #6. As always, thanks for reviewing this request. I hope someone is able to made these quick updates. Arturo at BP (talk) 21:25, 9 August 2013 (UTC) ✅ Gandydancer updated BP's ranking in both locations. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:33, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

This request has been completed, so I have collapsed the discussion. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:33, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Corrections to history and updates
A recent edit to the "History" section has introduced an error into the section, regarding the order of events around the sale of British Petroleum shares by the British government. I believe this may be due to a new source not being as clear regarding the date on which the sale occurred. The current wording is: Prior to the worldwide stock market crash in October 1987 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher initiated the sale of an additional GBP7.5 billion ($12.2 billion) of BP shares at 333 pence, representing the government's remaining 31% stake in the company. The stock crash referred to here is Black Monday, October 19, 1987. While the announcement that the shares were to be sold was made prior to the crash, the sale did not take place until after the crash. Per this New York Times article from October 30, 1987: "The British Government announced tonight that it was going ahead with the $12.2 billion sale of British Petroleum Company shares, despite the slump in world stock markets." I would suggest that this article be added as an additional citation and that the wording be updated to reflect that the sale took place after the stock crash. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:16, 12 November 2013 (UTC) Updates to Operations[edit] ✅ Gandydancer added the new source and updated the wording. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:34, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

This request has been completed, so I have collapsed the discussion. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:34, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Number of employees
The article currently states that "As of December 2012, the company had a total of 79,700 employees." Per the company's annual report, and independent sources such as this recent HR Magazine article confirms that the total number is currently around 85,000. Can this be updated? Arturo at BP (talk) 19:16, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

✅ Gandydancer updated this number. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:36, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Number of U.S. employees
Similar to the above request, the number of employees in the United States also is currently incorrect. The wording in the United States section is: "As of March 2013, the company employs approximately 21,000 people in the US", this should be "approximately 20,000", per the company website. The most recent news source I can find for this is this Convenience Store News article, if a third-party source is preferred. Would someone be able to make this update? Arturo at BP (talk) 19:16, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

✅ Gandydancer updated this number. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:36, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Number of refineries
In the "Oil refining and marketing" section, the number of refineries can be updated following the sale of the Carson refinery in June. The current wording is: "As of February 2013, BP owned or held a share in 15 refineries worldwide, of which seven were located in Europe and four were in the US". Per this Houston Business Journal article, the sale of the Carson refinery was completed in early June, bringing the total number of refineries to 14 and number within the U.S. to three. Would someone look at whether this can be updated based on sources about the Carson sale? Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:16, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

✅ Gandydancer updated this number. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:36, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

All parts of this request have been completed, so I have collapsed the discussion. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:36, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Quote duplicated in Environmental record
In the last couple of days, a quote from former BP CEO John Browne was added into the "Environmental record" section, however this quote was already included and now is repeated. Here are the sentences in question: As then CEO of BP, John Browne, stated during a speech at Stanford University in May 1997, "The time to consider the policy dimensions of climate change is not when the link between greenhouse gases and climate change is conclusively proven … but when the possibility cannot be discounted and is taken seriously by the society of which we are part."[1] Prior to 1997, BP was a member of the Global Climate Coalition an industry organisation established to promote global warming scepticism but withdrew in 1997, saying "the time to consider the policy dimensions of climate change is not when the link between greenhouse gases and climate change is conclusively proven, but when the possibility cannot be discounted and is taken seriously by the society of which we are part. We in BP have reached that point.". Can someone take a look at this and consider which sentence should be reworded to remove the duplicated quote? Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:16, 12 November 2013 (UTC) ✅ Coretheapple removed the duplicate quote. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:37, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

This request has been completed, so I have collapsed the discussion. Thanks. Arturo at BP (talk) 19:37, 17 January 2014 (UTC)