BP has bet on the price of oil rising to $60 a barrel in the next two years as it announced further cuts to spending and asset sales worth billions of dollars.
In the three months to September 30, BP’s reported profits fell from $1.3 billion in 2014 to just $46 million this year. However, the company prefers underlying replacement cost profits, which are adjusted for non-operating items and fair value accounting effects. By this measure profits were down from $3 billion to $1.8 billion (£1.2 billion), a 40 per cent drop year-on-year.
BP said its changing fortunes reflected lower oil and gas prices. Brent crude has fallen from $85.83 a barrel a year ago to $47.25 a barrel this morning. Though trading has been