BP shares slump as Q3 profit misses forecast on weak gas

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters): BP on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $3.3 billion, missing analysts' forecasts as strong oil trading and refining margins were offset by weak gas results while the firm wrote down a large chunk of a US offshore wind project.

The British company maintained its dividend at 7.27 cents per share and extended its $1.5 billion share buyback programme over the next three months, leaving its payout policy unchanged.

Its shares had slumped 5.4 per cent by 0910 GMT, compared with a 1.25 per cent drop in a wider index of European energy companies.

BP wrote down $540 million in the quarter on its wind power projects offshore New York after officials rejected a request for better terms to reflect what BP referred to as "inflationary pressures and permitting delays".

Norway's Equinor, BP's partner in the projects, booked a $300 million impairment on Friday.

"New York put out a 10-point plan, which would help move these projects forward... We'll be looking at that with our partner Equinor and deciding what we do moving forward," BP Interim CEO Murray Auchincloss told Reuters.

BP paid Equinor $1.1 billion in 2020 for a 50 per cent stake in the venture to develop the Empire and Beacon offshore wind projects which have a combined capacity of 3.3 gigawatts, capable of powering 2 million homes.