BP makes ‘significant progress’ on fossil fuel strategy as profits slump
The company also reported that its debts swelled to 27 billion US dollars (£20.1 billion).
The boss of BP said the energy giant has “already made significant progress” with its oil and gas focused growth strategy as it pulls back from renewables to boost its finances.
The company nevertheless revealed profits for the past quarter dropped by almost half and its debts swelled to 27 billion US dollars (£20.1 billion) amid pressure from weaker oil prices.
The FTSE 100 firm said its preferred profit measure – underlying replacement cost profit – dropped by 49% to 1.38 billion US dollars (£1.03 billion).
It was higher than the previous quarter but also came in below market expectations.
Profitability was knocked by a slump in crude oil prices in recent months, as President Donald Trump’s US tariff programme drove concerns about slowing economic growth and the impact of this on energy demand globally.
In February, BP revealed a new growth strategy focused on extracting more oil and gas after pressure from some investors to boost profits at the firm.
At the time, bosses said the business went “too far, too fast” on green energy and confirmed plans to heavily reduce spending on renewables.
On Tuesday, chief executive Murray Auchincloss said the company has been making progress with the strategy despite wider economic uncertainty.
He said: “In February, we announced a fundamental reset of our strategy – to grow the upstream, focus the downstream and invest with discipline in the transition – and we have already made significant progress.
“So far this year we have started up three major projects, made six exploration discoveries and have progressed our divestment programme – all while delivering strong operational performance, with over 95% upstream plant reliability supporting the best operating efficiency on record, and over 96% refining availability.
“We continue to monitor market volatility and changes and remain focused on moving at pace.”
In its fresh update, BP also reduced its investment outlook for the year.
It said it is set for capital investment of around 14.5 billion dollars (£10.8 billion) in 2025, cutting its guidance from 15 billion dollars.
The company also indicated it could raise more money from divestments during the year.
