LONDON (AP) – Oil and natural gas giant British Petroleum (BP) beat expectations yesterday with earnings of USD3 billion in the last three months of 2023, bringing last year’s total to half its record 2022 profit as energy prices have fallen.
London-based BP reported its underlying replacement cost profit, which excludes one-time items and fluctuations in the value of inventories, was down from USD3.3 billion in the previous quarter.
It brought in USD13.8 billion for all of last year, a huge drop from the USD27.7 billion it earned in 2022, when oil and natural gas prices went surging.
Those prices drove inflation and contributed to a cost-of-living crisis, drawing outrage from consumers facing higher utility bills while energy companies saw explosive growth in their bottom lines.
Energy prices have since fallen as a weak global economy holds back demand for fossil fuels to power cars, planes, factories and more.
Despite the drop in annual earnings, BP kept its dividend steady and said it would buy back USD1.75 billion in shares as well as commit to USD3.5 billion in additional share buybacks for first half of this year.
The company’s stock rose 5.75 per cent in morning trading.
“Looking back, 2023 was a year of strong operational performance with real momentum in delivery right across the business,” Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss said in a statement.
It’s the first earnings report since Auchincloss permanently got the top job last month.
Environmentalists and other groups said energy giants like BP are prioritising shareholders over fighting climate change.
“It’s clear that BP and other fossil-fuel giants can’t be trusted to drive the green transition: they will always prioritise their shareholders over the needs of the economy and the planet,” said researcher at the Institute for Public Policy Research Joseph Evans.
