BP posted its biggest quarterly loss after taking a $24 billion write-down to exit its Russian business, but strong operating performance due to soaring oil and gas prices helped the British energy company boost sales. share buybacks.
Rising oil and gas prices in the wake of Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine helped offset losses incurred by BP by abruptly abandoning its Russian business, including its 19.75% stake in oil giant Rosneft.
The write-down of its stakes in Rosneft and two other joint ventures led BP to a loss of $20.4 billion for the quarter, the largest ever recorded by the company.
But the bill was slightly lower than BP’s initial estimates of $25 billion.
The indicator used by the company as a benchmark for net income reached US$ 6.2 billion in the first quarter, the highest since 2008 and far exceeding analysts’ expectations of a profit of US$ 4.49 billion.
The performance for the first quarter of 2022 was buoyed by what BP said was an “outstanding” performance in its oil and gas trading division.
The company, which has also stopped trading Russian oil, said the departure from Russia, which contributed 3% of the company’s cash flow last year, would not affect its plan to switch from oil and gas to renewables.
BP’s refined petroleum products unit made a profit of $1.6 billion in the first three months, compared with a loss of $26 million in the previous quarter and a loss of $2 million a year ago.
push for buybacks
BP said it would increase its quarterly share buybacks to $2.5 billion before the end of the second quarter after its excess cash flow rose to more than $4 billion.
BP said in February it would accelerate its share buybacks to $1.5 billion a quarter from $1.25 billion.
Source: CNN Brasil
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