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BP announced its lowest quarterly profit since the Covid-19 pandemic as lower oil prices and weak refining margins weighed on its performance.
The FTSE 100 energy major made underlying profits of $2.27bn in the third quarter, beating average analyst estimates of $2.05bn. That was down from $2.8bn in the second quarter and from $3.3bn in the same period in 2023.
The 30 per cent year-on-year drop in earnings will maintain pressure on chief executive Murray Auchincloss who has pledged to make BP “simpler, more focused and higher value” but has so far struggled to boost performance, which has largely lagged behind rivals in 2024.
Auchincloss permanently took over from Bernard Looney in January. The Canadian executive has insisted that Looney’s plan to transform BP from an oil and gas producer into an integrated energy provider selling a broader range of products remains unchanged but he has placed far more emphasis than his predecessor on BP’s traditional fossil fuel business.
The first former chief financial officer to run BP in its 115-year history, Auchincloss has also pledged to slash costs, promising at least $2bn in savings by the end of 2026.
Despite the drop in earnings, BP said on Tuesday that it would buy back another $1.75bn of shares, maintaining its pledge to repurchase $7bn of stock this year.
The company has committed to return at least 80 per cent of surplus cash flow to shareholders through buybacks in 2024 and 2025.