BP has reported a profit attributable to shareholders of $9.3bn for the second quarter of 2022, a three-fold jump from $3.1bn a year ago.
The British oil major’s underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, also tripled to $8.5bn, from $2.8bn in the second quarter of 2021.
The surge was attributed to strong realised refining margins and oil trading, and higher liquids realisations.
“This was partly offset by an average gas marketing and trading contribution, down from the exceptional result in the first quarter, including an impact from the ongoing outage at Freeport LNG,” BP said in a press statement.
For the quarter that ended on 30 June 2022, the company’s total revenues and other income surged to $69.5bn, from $37.56bn a year earlier.
Operating cash flow increased to $10.9bn, from $5.4bn in the same period a year ago.
Capital expenditure for the quarter was $2.8bn. The firm ended the quarter with a net debt of $22.8bn.
The company will pay a dividend of 6.006 cents per ordinary share for the second quarter. It also announced plans to buyback shares worth $3.5bn before announcing its third-quarter results.
In a statement, the firm said: “For 2022 and subject to maintaining a strong investment grade credit rating, BP remains committed to using 60% of surplus cash flow for share buybacks and intends to allocate the remaining 40% to further strengthen the balance sheet.”
Production for the quarter stood at 924,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of 5.5% compared with the same period in 2021.
For this year, BP will continue with its plan of capital expenditure in the range of $14bn-15bn and divestment and other proceeds of $2bn-3bn.
BP noted that it anticipates the global oil prices ‘to remain elevated in the third quarter due to ongoing disruption to Russian supply, reduced levels of spare capacity, and with inventory levels significantly below the five year average.’
The company also said it plans to increase investment in US oil and gas assets by $500m, owing to tightening supplies and soaring energy prices, reported Reuters, citing BP CEO Bernard Looney.
This additional investment is planned to be allocated primarily to the firm’s onshore natural gas production in the Hayensville basin and the Gulf of Mexico production assets.
Earlier this year, BP announced that it had signed production sharing contracts with the Indonesian government for two offshore oil and gas exploration blocks.
