Should BP get more credit for its turnaround effort?
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island with his family in late 2012, Cuba is struggling under the US fuel embargo, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning for elections in the spring. Plus, the FT’s Camilla Paladino says oil major BP isn’t getting enough credit for its turnaround.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Howard Lutnick says he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island in 2012
Zelenskyy plans spring elections alongside referendum on peace deal
BP isn’t getting enough credit for its turnaround
BP becomes first oil major to suspend share buyback plan
Cuba runs out of jet fuel as Donald Trump squeezes oil supplies
Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts
Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Wednesday, February 11th, and this is your FT News briefing. |
| 0:08.4 | We're going to bring you the latest on the Epstein Files fallout. And Cuba's energy supply is hanging on by a threat. |
| 0:15.8 | Plus, look, we know BP has had it rough lately, but one of our columnists thinks that we should cut the |
| 0:21.3 | oil major a little more slack. |
| 0:24.2 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:35.3 | U.S. Senators grilled Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik yesterday during a hearing. |
| 0:39.9 | He said he visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island with his family back in 2012. |
| 0:44.6 | I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. |
| 0:50.4 | My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with, they were there as well, with their children, and we had lunch on the island. |
| 1:04.5 | Lutnik is facing a lot of scrutiny over his ties to the late convicted sex offender. Department of Justice documents released last month |
| 1:11.8 | show he had more extensive contact with Epstein than previously thought. The Commerce Secretary |
| 1:17.3 | is the latest high-profile figure to feel the heat since the DOJ's most recent Epstein file dump |
| 1:22.7 | that came last month. Politicians including U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and the U.K.'s |
| 1:28.9 | former ambassador to the U.S. Peter |
| 1:30.8 | Mandelson, have all appeared in the |
| 1:33.0 | documents. White House Press Secretary |
| 1:35.3 | Caroline Levitt said on Tuesday that |
| 1:37.2 | Trump fully supports Lutnik and |
| 1:39.0 | considers him a very important member of the |
| 1:41.2 | team. |
| 1:47.8 | Q. important member of the team. Cuba is telling international airlines that it won't be able to supply them with jet fuel |
| 1:52.7 | starting this week. That's because the country hasn't had an oil or fuel delivery for about a |
... |
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