LONDON—Three years after BP PLC’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil company is still fighting to keep damage claims and regulatory fines in check. But outside the courtroom, BP is spending to leave behind one of the biggest retrenchments in its 100-plus-year history. Chief Executive Bob Dudley has said the company has increased its investment in exploration. BP projects annual capital spending over the next several years to be $24 billion to $27 billion—at least 25% higher than 2011 levels as the company pours cash into projects in Angola, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and elsewhere. Company executives say the spending is part of an effort to recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill—and get back to its mission of finding and pumping oil. BP’s turnaround will be challenging. The oil industry as a whole is struggling to find new deposits to replace what it pumps. At the same time, […]