BP’s earnings rise in first quarter; TNK-BP deal lifts profit

UK-based oil and gas company BP has reported a $4.2bn profit in the first quarter of 2013, which is an increase compared to $3.9bn in the fourth quarter of last year, but a fall from the $4.7bn of the first quarter of 2012.

The company has achieved $4bn operating cash flow in the current quarter, compared to $3.4bn in the first quarter of 2012.

It has also posted a 4% higher growth rate in the current quarter compared to theprevious quarter in its upstream business.

BP completed the sale of its interest in TNK-BP to Rosneft for a price of about $27.5 in cash, while it now holds 19.75% interest in Rosneft and earned $85m from Rosneft in the first quarter of 2013.

The company bought back 120 million worth of shares for an amount of $834m, as well as plans to retain the balance of the cash received from the TNK-BP transaction to reduce net debt.

BP and Rosneft are now carrying different workstreams in Russia based on the key aspects of the integration of TNK-BP and Rosneft.

BP Group chief executive Bob Dudley said the strong first quarter results demonstrates the company’s progress, which will support the firm’s 10-point plan and material operating cash flow growth by 2014.

"The early completion of the sale of our interest in TNK-BP has also allowed us to begin a share buy-back programme which we expect to return up to $8bn to our shareholders and reflects the reduction in BP’s asset base following our divestment programme over the past three years," Dudley added.

"These results represent a strong start to 2013 across all of our businesses."

BP plans to start four new upstream projects in 2013, and will consider drilling between 15 and 25 exploration wells, which include wells in Egypt, India, Jordan, Gulf of Mexico and Indonesia.

The company has completed the divestment of the Texas City refinery and related assets in the first quarter.

---

Image: BP Group chief executive Bob Dudley. Photo: Courtesy of Premier.gov.ru.