Annual profits soar to £4.4bn amid higher oil prices
The annual profits of oil giant BP more than doubled last year, largely amid increase in oil prices. The FTSE 100 group made $6.2bn ($4.4bn), up from $2.6bn made during the previous 12 months.
BP opened seven new oil and gas fields during 2017 and its oil production rose 12 per cent to 247m barrels of oil per day. Last week, the oil giant hadannounced that it hoped to double North Sea oil production to 200,000 barrels by 2020.
Chief executive Bob Dudley hailed today’s result “as one of the strongest years in BP’s recent history”.
“We enter the second year of our five-year plan with real momentum,” Dudley said, adding: “We are increasingly confident that we can continue to deliver growth across our business, improving cash flows and returns for shareholders out to 2021 and beyond.”
Brian Gilvary, BP’s chief financial officer, said that the group’s cash flows were now “back in balance” as it undertakes the start of its programme to buy back the shares it paid out to shareholders in lieu of dividends during the oil market rout.
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