Prices are falling on the global oil market. The British group BP is painfully aware of this and is taking consequences.
London (dpa) - The corona pandemic and the drop in oil prices have depressed the profit of the British oil company BP. Adjusted net income decreased to $ 791 million in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, the company said in London.
A year earlier, BP had reported an adjusted profit of just under $ 2.36 billion. Nevertheless, the company wants to increase the quarterly dividend by 2.4 percent to 10.5 cents per share.
"We are dealing with an exceptionally challenging environment," said CFO Brian Gilvary. The effects of the declines in demand and prices are likely to continue in the second quarter. BP will use a number of measures to increase liquidity, strengthen the balance sheet and reduce expenses.
The company had already announced significant cost reductions at the beginning of April: In the current year, organic capital expenditure is to be limited to a total of $ 12 billion (about € 11 billion). That is about 25 percent less than the group originally planned. Organic capital expenditures are adjusted for effects such as mergers. Among other things, BP wants to cope with the situation by improving the integration of individual corporate divisions and company sales.
According to the trade association for the British gas and oil industry, Oil and Gas UK, 30,000 people could lose their jobs in the next 18 months as a result of the pandemic and the price drop. This is about one in five jobs in the UK sector, according to a survey by the association.
In the past week, something unique had happened on the global oil market: For the first time in history, the price of a futures contract on US oil had dropped - that means that buyers even received money when they were bought. This was also a consequence of an unprecedented drop in demand due to the Corona crisis and a much too high supply of crude oil with insufficient storage capacity.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its partners had agreed in mid-April to cut back on the pandemic in May and June in order to stabilize the oil price.
Quarterly figures BP
