- China Overcapacity Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- Investing in Good Karma – and Making a Profit
- China Unveils Carbon Target Ahead of Copenhagen
- Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report
- UK Banks Must Disclose Top Pay: Review
- Black Friday to Avoid Red Ink; Greenback Gets the Blues
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Chinese Overcapacity is Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Oil Friday
Text Size 
British oil major BP beat forecasts on Tuesday with a 48 percent leap in first-quarter replacement cost (RC) net income, helped by record oil prices and strong profits from punting energy markets.
 |
AP |
Excluding non-operating items, which amounted to a net gain of $96 million, the RC result, which strips out the impact of changes in the value of fuel inventories, was $6.49 billion.
A Reuters poll of analysts gave an average forecast of $5.31 billion for BP's first quarter RC earnings, excluding non-ops.
The oil major said production averaged 3.913 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first three months of the year, flat on the same period last year and in line with analysts' forecasts.
Output would have risen 5 percent, BP said, if it were not for the production sharing contracts it has with resource-holders, which reduce the amount of oil BP receives from projects when oil prices rise.
BP's refining and marketing division turned in an unexpected profit, despite lower crude processing margins and lower throughputs at its refineries.
Many analysts had expected a loss.
BP is undergoing a restructuring to simplify its corporate structure and cut costs, in an effort to address industry-lagging operational performance and falling output.
A BP spokesman cautioned that the strong first-quarter earnings did not necessarily represent BP's return to form, saying the results were flattered by a number of unusual items including BP's oil and gas traders having a lucky quarter.
"All the trading activity has gone in our favor in this quarter. This has probably contributed $400 million above a typical result," he said.
A deferral of tax charges in Russia also boosted the bottom line by around $200 million while corporate overheads also took a $250 million dip which is unlikely to be repeated, the spokesman said.
Print
Email
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes