Skip to main content

BP reports profit in 1Q21

Published by , Editor
Oilfield Technology,


As reported by Reuters, BP's profit more than tripled to US$2.6 billion in 1Q21 as a result of stronger oil prices and bumper revenue from natural gas trading, paving the way for the energy company to resume share buybacks.

The jump in profits from a year earlier comes as BP says it expects oil demand to recover in 2021 due to strong growth in the US and China as COVID-19 vaccination programmes accelerate.

BP said it will buy back US$500 million of shares in the second quarter to offset the dilution from an employee share distribution programme.

Net debt dropped US$5.6 billion from the end of December to US$33.3 billion at the end of March, chiefly due to around US$4.8 billion worth of disposals and stronger oil prices.

That pushed debt below the company's US$35 billion target sooner than expected, allowing it to deliver on its promise of buying back shares.

The company said it would provide an update on the third quarter buyback programme later this year.

As part of Chief Executive Bernard Looney's plan to shift the focus of the oil major to low carbon energy investments, BP aims to sell US$25 billion of assets by 2025.

BP's first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, the company's definition of net income, rose to US$2.6 billion, far exceeding forecasts of US$1.64 billion in a company-provided survey of analysts.

That compared with a US$110 million profit in 4Q20 and a profit of US$790 million a year earlier.

BP expects global oil inventories, which swelled as the coronavirus pandemic hit fuel demand, to fall to historic levels by the end of 2021.


Read the latest issue of Oilfield Technology in full for free: Issue 1 2021

Oilfield Technology’s first issue of 2021 begins with a look at US tight oil’s prospects this year. The issue then moves on to cover completions technology, production forecasting, electric fracturing, sand recovery and more.

Exclusive contributions come from Rystad Energy, Archer, Weatherford, Halliburton, CGG, NOV, TETRA Technologies, Clariant and more.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/27042021/bp-reports-profit-in-1q21/

You might also like

 
 

Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):


 

This article has been tagged under the following:

Upstream news BP news Oil & gas news


 

Oilfield Technology is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.