BP adjusts to 50 U.S. dollars as oil profits fall
LONDON (Reuters) - British oil major BP Plc (BP.L) said that learning to live with oil at $ 50 per barrel by cutting costs after the collapse of oil prices posted first quarter earnings and a higher level of rapid debt.
Europe is the second-largest oil company in the market value, said its replacement cost (RC) net profit, which strips out gains or losses related to the value of fuel inventories, fell 62 percent to 2.39 billion dollars in the first three months of the year .
"We must quickly to our costs to a level that is consistent with the $ 50 the world," Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in an e-mail to staff seen by Reuters.
However, profits fell less than analysts predicted, repeating the experience of U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and in Italy, ENI (ENI.MI) last week and hopes to raise the sector adapt to the prices of crude oil to fall sharply.
"BP Q1 results reflect the sharper than expected decrease in unit production costs, combined with a strong oil market efficiency" Neill Morton, oil analyst at MF Global, said.
BP shares rose 1.4 percent to 490 pence at 0944 GMT, Bucking a 0.62 percent decline in DJ STOXX Oil and gas index. SXEP.
Production costs of crude oil and gas fell by 11 percent in the quarter compared to the same period in 2008, BP cut and a total of more than 1 billion U.S. dollars from the cost base in the previous year.
A spokesman said the trend will continue to shave her BP 2009 capital expenditure in the $ 20 billion, compared with $ 20 billion to 22 billion U.S. dollars in March, said BP expected to spend.
Europe is the second-largest oil company in the market value, said its replacement cost (RC) net profit, which strips out gains or losses related to the value of fuel inventories, fell 62 percent to 2.39 billion dollars in the first three months of the year .
"We must quickly to our costs to a level that is consistent with the $ 50 the world," Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in an e-mail to staff seen by Reuters.
However, profits fell less than analysts predicted, repeating the experience of U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and in Italy, ENI (ENI.MI) last week and hopes to raise the sector adapt to the prices of crude oil to fall sharply.
"BP Q1 results reflect the sharper than expected decrease in unit production costs, combined with a strong oil market efficiency" Neill Morton, oil analyst at MF Global, said.
BP shares rose 1.4 percent to 490 pence at 0944 GMT, Bucking a 0.62 percent decline in DJ STOXX Oil and gas index. SXEP.
Production costs of crude oil and gas fell by 11 percent in the quarter compared to the same period in 2008, BP cut and a total of more than 1 billion U.S. dollars from the cost base in the previous year.
A spokesman said the trend will continue to shave her BP 2009 capital expenditure in the $ 20 billion, compared with $ 20 billion to 22 billion U.S. dollars in March, said BP expected to spend.
