[ad_1]
BP profits fell in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $ 115 million due to weak energy demand, with fuel consumption continuing to decline due to tight travel restrictions.
During the year, BP slipped to a loss of $ 5.69 billion, the first in ten years, from a profit of $ 10 billion in 2019, after the company downgraded the value of its oil assets and gas companies of $ 6.5 billion. in the second trimester.
BP said on Tuesday that its quarterly results were “significantly” affected by lower fuel and gas sales and weak profits from refining and trading activities, as well as a $ 154 million reduction in value. exploration assets.
For his part, CFO Murray Okincloss said in a statement: “These results express a really difficult quarter.”
But the company said demand is expected to pick up in 2021 as scarcity of supplies in global natural gas markets will support price profitability, adding that restrictions associated with the Corona virus put pressure on demand for refined products in the first place. trimester.
Fourth-quarter net income of $ 115 million is lower than analysts’ forecasts of $ 360 million made by the company itself.
By comparison, it was $ 86 million in the third quarter and $ 2.6 billion a year earlier.
BP’s total debt of $ 39 billion is expected to rise in the first half of this year as it still struggles in a weakened environment, but the company said it would still reduce it to $ 35 billion at the start of this year. 2021.
Source link
