BP strikes oil with doubling of annual profits to over $6bn

BP yesterday posted one of the strongest years in the oil major’s recent history after the hike in the cost of crude was a tailwind behind a more than doubling of earnings.

The group saw underlying replacement cost profit – the industry’s preferred benchmark because it strips out the fluctuating value of oil stocks held – soar to $6.2 billion (£4.4bn) in 2017. That was up from $2.6bn the year before.

In the final quarter of last year, BP made a profit of $2.1bn, climbing from $400 million over the same threemonth period in 2016.

BP is among a string of oil majors benefiting from climbing prices, having seen Brent crude hit $70 per barrel last month – its highest level in more than three years.

Group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “2017 was one of the strongest years in BP’S recent history.

“We delivered operationally and financially, with very strong earnings in the downstream, upstream production up 12 per cent, and our finances rebalanced.

“We enter the second year of our five-year (turnaround) plan with real momentum, increasingly confident that we can continue to deliver growth across our business, improving cash flows and returns for shareholders out to 2021 and beyond.”

Payments linked to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico hit $300m in Q4, pushing the total bill for 2017 to $5.2bn. 0 Boss Bob Dudley – group ‘strong operationally’