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Why is BP important to traders?
BP is a world-renowned international oil and gas company, formerly known as British Petroleum. It represents an integrated energy business with operations in Europe, North and South America, Australia, Asia and Africa.
BP is one of the world’s seven gas and oil “supermajors”. It covers all areas of energy business, from exploration and production to distribution and refining. The company also develops its renewable energy segment, working on solar technologies, biofuels, wind power and smart grid. The company invests heavily in clean energy, aiming to become a carbon-neutral business by 2050.
The British oil and gas giant has operations in 80 countries worldwide and employs a workforce of 70,000. It produces around 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has total proven reserves of 19.34bn barrels of oil equivalent.
BP share trading hours
If you choose to trade CFDs, you can follow the British Petroleum (BP) share value live in US dollars or British pounds with the comprehensive BP stock price charts at Capital.com.
BP (USD): Monday to Friday from 13.30 to 20.00
BP (GBP) Monday to Friday from 07:00 to 11:00, and from 11:03 to 15:30
This gives you plenty of time to monitor the company’s activity and keep an eye out for any events that may affect short-term movements in the BP share price.
How to trade BP shares with CFDs
An individual has two options when trading in the stock market. Firstly, one can buy shares in companies on the exchanges where they are listed. For instance, when investing in BP shares on the London stock exchange (LSE) or on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) you actually acquire a share in the company. This can be considered a long-term investment, as the individual is usually waiting for the price to rise over time.
Alternatively, one can trade a contract for difference (CFD) for the BP stock, and speculate on the price difference without actually owning the asset. A CFD is a financial contract, typically between a broker and an investor, where one party agrees to pay the other the difference in the value of a security, between the opening and closing of the trade. You can either hold a long position (speculating that the price will rise) or a short position (speculating that the price will fall). This is considered a short-term investment or trade, as CFDs tend to be used within shorter time frames.
The key difference between BP shares trading through a long position with a CFD and buying a security is the leverage that is employed. CFDs are traded on margin, which means that a trader can open larger positions with their capital.
You can trade BP shares with CFDs right now. Just sign up at Capital.com and use our advanced web platform or download the best-in-class investment app to trade on the go. It will take you just three minutes to get started and access the world’s most traded markets.
Why trade BP CFDs with Capital.com
Advanced AI technology at its core: A Facebook-like newsfeed provides users with personalised and unique content depending on their preferences. If a trader makes decisions based on biases, the innovative newsfeed offers a range of materials to put them back on the right track. The neural network analyses in-app behaviour and recommends videos, articles and news to polish investment strategy.
Trading on margin: Providing trading on margin (up to 5:1 for individual equities), Capital.com gives you access to the BP stock trading with the help of CFDs.
Trading the difference: When you invest in BP shares with CFDs, you don’t buy the underlying asset itself, meaning you are not tied to it. You only speculate on the rise or fall of the BP stock performance. CFD trading is nothing different from traditional trading in terms of strategies. A CFD investor can go short or long, set stop-loss and limit orders and apply trading scenarios that align with their objectives.
All-round trading analysis: The browser-based platform allows traders to shape their own market analysis and forecasts with sleek technical indicators. Capital.com provides live market updates and various chart formats, available on desktop, iOS and Android.
Focus on safety: Captal.com puts a special emphasis on safety. Licensed by the FCA and CySEC, it complies with all regulations and ensures that its clients’ data security comes first. The company allows you to withdraw money 24/7 and keeps traders’ funds across segregated bank accounts.
Trade BP PLC - GBP - BP. CFD
BP traces its roots to the Anglo Persian Oil company back in 1908. Half a century later, in 1954, the company was rebranded to British Petroleum. Expanding rapidly beyond the Middle East, the company became one of the first oil producers to strike oil in the North Sea.
In the 1980s, the UK government privatised British Petroleum. In 2001, after a series of mergers and acquisitions, including ARCO, Amoco and Burman Castrol, the company got its current name: BP plc.
Today, BP operates in two major business lines: Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment deals with the exploration of oil and natural gas and its further transportation and processing; the Downstream segment is responsible for the global production of petrochemicals and fuels.
The British Petroleum stock market price is made up of original BP stocks and shares acquired from mergers with Amoco in 1998 and ARCO in 2000. Amoco's acquisition caused a significant 40 per cent surge in the BP stock price in April 1999. However, by early 2000, BP shares had lost almost 25 per cent after the Federal Trade Commission opposed a new acquisition of ARCO.
Still, the ARCO acquisition took place in April 2020, and BP shares skyrocketed on the news to break a record $57 in June 2020. Moving further, the company’s stock climbed as high as $80 per share in November 2007.
Another turbulent time for the BP share price was in 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill sparked another drastic decline: BP stock lost 50 per cent of its value in 50 days. The share price plunged to $26.96 in June 2010 but managed to rebound to the post-spill high of $50 in early 2011.
The oil industry started 2020 on solid ground with the Brent Crude oil price standing above $60 per barrel and BP stock trading at $39. However, the Covid-19 pandemic inflicted the unprecedented fall in the oil price, which triggered the oil stocks sell-off.
BP stocks plunged to a multiyear low of $16.11 on March 18, 2020. Soon afterwards, as the lockdowns have gradually eased around the world, oil stocks have picked up on a positive oil-demand outlook.
With Capital.com’s streaming stock chart, you can quickly view the price of BP stock in real time, and also trace the BP historical share price to see the full picture.
Is BP stock a good investment?
The stock market crash and the oil price war in 2020 put an end to the longest bullish stock market movement in history. BP has been significantly affected by the coronavirus lockdown and a looming recession, and BP shares today are characterised by this period of extreme volatility. In August 2020, BP stock is trading at around $25, which represents 55 per cent growth since its March low, but still a 38.5 per cent decline year-to-date.
Continued oil market volatility makes many investors believe that trading BP stock could represent a good undervalued opportunity. Although it is still significantly down from its year highs, BP share price forecast remains positive. According to the latest BP stock price forecast by Walletinvestor, offering a 12-month price prediction, BP stock can be an acceptable long-term investment.
If you are interested in BP share trading and are wondering, “Should I invest in BP stock?” follow the BP share price live and spot the best trading opportunities at Capital.com.
FAQ
Who are BP’s main competitors?
The top three BP competitors are:
Total. The company operates more than 900 subsidiaries, which cover all areas of energy production. Total’s shares are listed on the Paris (CAC), Amsterdam (Euronext) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges.
ExxonMobil. The world’s leading refiner with a capacity of processing around six million barrels per day. ExxonMobil’s shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Royal Dutch Shell. Shell operates more than 40,000 oil service stations worldwide. The company’s shares are listed on the London (LSE), Amsterdam (Euronext) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges.
What factors affect the BP share price?
As with any equity, quarterly earnings announcements and the financial performance of the wider stock market are two crucial factors to watch when deciding how BP stock will perform.
Bernard Looney, BP’s chief executive officer, commented on the company’s Q2 2020 earnings report, saying: “These headline results have been driven by another very challenging quarter, but also by the deliberate steps we have taken as we continue to reimagine energy and reinvent BP. In particular, our reset of long-term price assumptions and the related impairment and exploration write-off charges had a major impact. Beneath these, however, our performance remained resilient, with good cash flow and – most importantly – safe and reliable operations.”
Revenue: $31.6bn (£24.1bn, €26.8bn) for Q2 20, which is 56.41 per cent lower than the $72.68 billion from the second quarter of 2019 and missed analysts’ estimates of $42.7bn.
Earnings per share: a loss of $1.98 per American Depositary Share (338.55 per cent down), which is below Wall Street’s estimate of a $1.10 loss.