BP's 3Q Reveals Early Steps to Recovery

We'd like to see more news of long-term projects in the months ahead.

Catharina Milostan 2 November, 2010 | 3:25PM
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BP's (BP.) third-quarter results illustrate how the firm is moving forward after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but many more months will be needed to restore the firm's offshore safety reputation in the United States. BP reported a replacement cost profit of $1.8 billion, including a $7.7 billion oil-spill-related pretax charge for relief well costs to seal the Macondo well in September and additional claims centre and legal costs. This is in addition to the $32.2 billion oil spill charge taken in the second quarter, for a year-to-date total of $39.9 billion. Outside the impact of the Gulf spill, BP's underlying operations performed well, with year-over-year operating earnings gains in the upstream and downstream units. We're encouraged by new CEO Robert Dudley's initial steps to install a new safety regime with a dedicated safety division and compensation tied to safety measures, but recognise that measurable safety gains could take a few years. The firm is making good progress toward asset sale goals of $25 billion-$30 billion by year-end 2011, with agreements to sell $14 billion of noncore upstream assets thus far.

During the third quarter, BP's exploration and production unit reported replacement cost profits before interest and tax of $8.35 billion, which compares favourably with $6.9 billion earned a year ago and $6.2 billion earned in the second quarter. Third-quarter oil and gas production of 3,763 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day was 4% lower than year-ago levels because of seasonal turnarounds and the effect of asset sales and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The firm expects to see impacts from sold assets and production in the US Permian basin, deep-water Gulf of Mexico, Western Canada, and interests in Venezuela, Vietnam, and Colombia in the fourth quarter as well. While we're encouraged by government approvals for new exploration interests offshore China and the United Kingdom and a joint offshore exploration agreement in Azerbaijan, our longer-term concern remains how BP can move forward with new growth projects in the US and abroad. We'd like to see more news of long-term projects in the months ahead.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
BP PLC392.70 GBX1.06Rating

About Author

Catharina Milostan  Catharina Milostan is a stock analyst with Morningstar.

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