(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc kept up the pace of share buybacks in the second quarter, following peer Shell Plc, as oil majors double down on making shareholders returns a priority. 

BP announced a $1.75 billion share repurchase to be completed during the second quarter, according to a statement.

Buybacks are a hallmark of oil majors’ earnings reports. European companies are expected to return €620 billion ($667 billion) to shareholders this year, a decade-high.

The challenge for energy companies like Shell, BP and TotalEnergies SE will be to meet their cash-return goals as cash flows are expected to deteriorate, Bloomberg Intelligence equity strategists Laurent Douillet and Kaidi Meng said in March. BP’s free cash flow is expected to drop by about a quarter in 2024, while it may drop by almost a third for TotalEnergies and edge lower for Shell, based on consensus.

--With assistance from Maggie Shiltagh.

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