LONDON: Oil major BP reported a smaller than expected fall in third-quarter underlying profit on Tuesday as a strong performance at all divisions led by refining helped to offset the impact of lower crude prices.
However, there was no update on the closely-watched sale process for its Castrol lubricants unit, the centre-piece of its $20 billion asset-sale drive to slash its debt pile.
After an ill-fated foray into renewables under previous CEO Bernard Looney, BP has vowed to increase profitability and cut costs while re-routing spending to focus on oil and gas.
BP in August launched a review of how best to develop and monetise its oil and gas production assets and when new Chair Albert Manifold took up his post last month he called for a deeper reshaping of BP’s portfolio to increase profitability.
CEO Murray Auchincloss said recent discoveries, including the Bumerangue field offshore Brazil, meant BP had the potential oil output with its current portfolio for the long term.
“I’m not sure I’ve been able to say that over the past 25 years with BP,” he said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.