Second quarter and half year 2019
Midway through 5-year plan, continuing to deliver strong performance and strategic progress
RC profit (loss), underlying RC profit, operating cash flow excluding Gulf of Mexico oil spill payments and working capital are non-GAAP measures.
These measures and major projects, inventory holding gains and losses, non-operating items and fair value accounting effects are defined in the Glossary on page 35.
- Strong financial results
- Underlying replacement cost profit for the second quarter of 2019 was $2.8 billion, similar to a year earlier. The quarter’s result largely reflected continued good operating performance, offset by oil prices lower than in the second quarter of 2018.
- Non-operating items in the second quarter of $0.9 billion, post-tax, related mainly to impairment charges.
- Operating cash flow, excluding Gulf of Mexico oil spill payments, was $8.2 billion for the second quarter, including a $1.5-billion working capital release (after adjusting for net inventory holding gains), and $14.2 billion for the first half, including a $0.5-billion working capital release.
- Gulf of Mexico oil spill payments of $1.4 billion on a post-tax basis in the second quarter were primarily the scheduled annual payments.
- A dividend of 10.25 cents a share was announced for the quarter.
- Solid Upstream and Downstream performance
- Reported oil and gas production for the quarter averaged 3.8 million barrels a day of oil equivalent, 4% higher than a year earlier.
- With the start-up of Culzean in the North Sea this quarter, four Upstream major projects have begun production in the first half of the year.
- Final investment decisions were taken in the quarter for new Upstream major projects in India and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as agreement for additional investment in Angola.
- In Downstream, quarter on quarter growth in lubricants and fuels marketing, more than offset by planned turnarounds ahead of IMO 2020.
- Growing low carbon businesses
- BP agreed to combine its Brazilian biofuels and biopower business with that of Bunge in a new equally-owned joint venture. On completion, BP’s interest in the venture will be more than 50% larger than its existing biofuels business.
- Lightsource BP (43% owned by BP) has continued to make strong progress, including agreeing a significant expansion in Brazil.
- BP agreed a $30 million venturing investment in Calysta, which will use BP's natural gas to produce protein feed for aquaculture and agriculture.
Cautionary statement
In order to utilize the ‘safe harbor’ provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the ‘PSLRA’) and the general doctrine of cautionary statements, BP is providing the following cautionary statement: The discussion in this results announcement contains certain forecasts, projections and forward-looking statements - that is, statements related to future, not past events and circumstances - with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of BP and certain of the plans and objectives of BP with respect to these items. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as ‘will’, ‘expects’, ‘is expected to’, ‘aims’, ‘should’, ‘may’, ‘objective’, ‘is likely to’, ‘intends’, ‘believes’, ‘anticipates’, ‘plans’, ‘we see’ or similar expressions. In particular, the following, among other statements, are all forward looking in nature: plans and expectations regarding BP’s low-carbon business, including with regard to BP’s $30 million venturing investment in Calysta and Calysta’s business model and impacts thereof, and to the timing of the installation of 400 ultra-fast chargers at BP’s UK retail sites; plans and expectations with respect to the joint venture between BP’s Brazilian biofuels business and Bunge, including BP’s interest in the venture, the combined business plan and completion timing; expectations regarding the expected quarterly dividend payment and timing of such payment; plans and expectations regarding share buybacks, including to offset the impact of dilution from the scrip program; expectations regarding the underlying effective tax rate in 2019; expectations regarding 2019 organic capital expenditure and depreciation, depletion and amortization charges; plans and expectations with respect to gearing, including for gearing to move toward the middle of the 20-30% targeted range in 2020; expectations with respect to new discoveries and the potential to develop them; plans and expectations with respect to expected project start-ups for which final investment decisions have been made; plans and expectations regarding Upstream investments, including with regard to the agreement to sell BP’s interests in Gulf of Suez oil concessions to Dragon Oil and timing thereof, for the investment in deepwater Block 15 offshore Angola to increase and extend production and to BP’s intention to sell BP’s interest in oil and gas fields in Oklahoma, US; expectations with regard to the strategic partnership between Castrol and Renault Sport Racing; plans and expectations regarding divestments and disposals, including to have more than $10 billion of divestments by the end of 2020; plans and expectations with respect to BP’s and Environmental Defense Fund’s commitment to reduce methane emissions; plans regarding the $100-million fund for projects that will deliver emissions reductions; expectations regarding Upstream third-quarter 2019 reported production, seasonal turnaround and maintenance activities; expectations regarding Downstream third-quarter 2019 refining margins and turnaround activity; expectations regarding the impact of the IFRIC agenda decision on IFRS 9 on reported earnings; expectations that the second and final payment in connection with the Scharfstein litigation will be made in July 2020; plans and expectations regarding Lightsource BP, including for the Green Energy Equity Fund to invest a total of $330 million in Ayana Renewable Power; plans and expectations regarding the Other businesses and corporate 2019 average quarterly charges; and expectations with respect to the amount of future payments relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future and are outside the control of BP. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors, including: the specific factors identified in the discussions accompanying such forward-looking statements; the receipt of relevant third party and/or regulatory approvals; the timing and level of maintenance and/or turnaround activity; the timing and volume of refinery additions and outages; the timing of bringing new fields onstream; the timing, quantum and nature of certain acquisitions and divestments; future levels of industry product supply, demand and pricing, including supply growth in North America; OPEC quota restrictions; PSA effects; operational and safety problems; potential lapses in product quality; economic and financial market conditions generally or in various countries and regions; political stability and economic growth in relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental regulations; regulatory or legal actions including the types of enforcement action pursued and the nature of remedies sought or imposed; the actions of prosecutors, regulatory authorities and courts; delays in the processes for resolving claims; amounts ultimately payable and timing of payments relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; exchange rate fluctuations; development and use of new technology; recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce; the success or otherwise of partnering; the actions of competitors, trading partners, contractors, subcontractors, creditors, rating agencies and others; our access to future credit resources; business disruption and crisis management; the impact on our reputation of ethical misconduct and non-compliance with regulatory obligations; trading losses; major uninsured losses; decisions by Rosneft’s management and board of directors; natural disasters and adverse weather conditions; changes in public expectations and other changes to business conditions; wars and acts of terrorism; cyber-attacks or sabotage; and other factors discussed elsewhere in this report, including under “Principal risks and uncertainties” and under “Risk factors” in BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2018 as filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.