Boss laments one of the ‘most challenging’ times in sector’s history

BP CEO Bernard Looney said the second quarter of 2020 would go down as one of the “most challenging” periods endured by the oil and gas industry in its entire history.

BP nosedived to pre-tax losses of £16.5 billion for the three months, against profits of £2.4bn in the corresponding period last year.

The company’s figures were badly dented by impairments of £7bn related to lower oil and gas price assumptions and exploration write-offs totalling £1.3bn.

Revenues sank 58% yearon-year to £24bn due to a slump in oil and gas prices, caused by oversupply and the Covid-19 lockdown.

For the first six months of 2020, pre-tax losses totalled £19.9bn, compared with profits of £6bn last year, on revenues of £69bn, down 36%.

Mr Looney said: “BP has seen some tough quarters in its 110 years, but the last one was among the toughest.”

During the reporting period, BP announced plans to make 10,000 of its employees redundant, representing a 15% cut to its global headcount.

About 2,000 of the redundancies are expected to occur in the UK, where the firm has 15,000 employees.

But Mr Looney said the challenges thrown up by

Covid and the price rout had only made BP “more determined” to reinvent itself.

The boss also said the energy transition was a huge opportunity to create value and make BP a “better company”.

BP would not be “starting from scratch”, he said, pointing to earlier investments in companies like solar developer Lightsource and electric vehicle charging firm Chargemaster.

Mr Looney said the decision to cut the dividend to 5.25 cents (4.01p) was “rooted in” the company’s new strategy and “amplified by Covid”.

Wood Mackenzie’s Luke Parker described the dividend cut as “prudent”.