UK: BP On Brink of New Era

 As BP announced positive Q3 financial results, reporting profits of $5.1bn, CEO Bob Dudley underlined the fact that BP had reached a clear turning point. “The financial picture for BP today is very different from a year ago,” said Dudley. “We are today reporting replacement cost profits for the first nine months of this year of $15.9 billion, compared to a $9.5 billion loss for the same period in 2010.

Dudley added that October 2011 had seen the company’s oil and gas outpu improve: “As our extended turnaround programme moves towards completion we are seeing production return, particularly from Angola, the UK North Sea and the US Gulf of Mexico, where we produce our higher-value barrels,” he said.

BP’s refining and marketing businesses are on track to deliver record earnings in 2011, according to the company. “We believe the focussed, high-quality nature of our downstream businesses already make them world class, generating significant profit and cash for the group,” Dudley said. The segment will benefit further when the major upgrade of the Whiting refinery in the US is completed in 2013.

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