BP's turnaround continues with the announcement of strong Second Quarter profits and a positive First Half.
BP's planned fightback continues, following last year's devastating Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Second Quarter profits of $5.6bn continued to wipe out last year's losses - a $17.1bn deficit for the same period last year - and boost First Half profits to $12.7bn from an $11bn loss in 2010.
As well as its continued drive to rationalise its operations, the cost of the Gulf spill in the reporting period were relatively small in comparison to last year, with some $200m being paid out in Q2, making $600m expenditure for the First Half of the year.
BP's CEO, Bob Dudley, told shareholders and analysts that he expected the recovery to continue and build for the next two years "as new projects come on stream, particularly in higher-margin areas; as we complete current turnaround activity; as we return to work in the Gulf of Mexico; and as uncertainties reduce."
Currently, the company has agreements of around $25bn in place on its way to its $30bn divestment target with further plans underway to sell its Texas City refinery and part of its West Coast fuels chain by 2012.
Overall, BP's oil and gas production down 11% at 3.4m boed, largely impacted by reduction in Gulf of Mexico output, although Dudley viewed these as "a near term effect" only.
However, despite the good figures, they were apparently not good enough for the financial markets, wiht analysts expecting a $6bn profit for the Quarter. The results have also prompted calls for BP to split its exploration and downstream operations, a trend already set by Marathon and ConocoPhillips.