OIL and gas giant BP has “hands full with gas” in Egypt and “won’t be a vehicle” for any transition to green energy, Britain’s ambassador to the country said in an internal email.

The email by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was revealed today following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the campaign group Culture Unstained as Egypt hosts Cop27.

Sent by British ambassador Gareth Bayley to a colleague earlier this year, it said that BP Egypt admitted it had “its hands full with gas” and had been “low key” about green energy projects in the country.

Mr Bayley said in the exchange that BP Egypt “certainly won’t be the vehicle” for energy transition initiatives in the region.

The emails also highlight how BP values its close relationship with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Culture Unstained noted, with the company’s chief executive officer, Bernard Looney, meeting with Mr Sisi at an energy conference.

An email from BP shows the company asking the British embassy to help promote its close partnership with the Egyptian government on its media channels.

Culture Unstained co-director Chris Garrard said: “The British ambassador is right.

“While BP claims that it is leading the energy transition, in Egypt its hands are full with fossil gas extraction, its business aided by President Sisi’s repressive laws which have all but shut down scrutiny and opposition from communities on the ground.

“As climate impacts have intensified and the human rights situation worsened, rather than stepping back and speaking out, BP has instead chosen to ramp up its fossil fuel investments and lavished praise on Egypt’s president.”

BP was approached for comment.