LONDON, Feb 3 (AFP): BP on Tuesday joined a list of energy giants planning to slash investment this year as tumbling oil prices bite into group profits.
Spending in 2015 was expected to total about $20 billion (17.6 billion euros), down from a previous guidance of $24-26 billion, BP said in a results statement.
And smaller British rival BG Group revealed it would cut investment by about $3.0 billion this year.
"We have now entered a new and challenging phase of low oil prices through the near and medium term," BP chief executive Bob Dudley said in the earnings statement.
"Our focus must now be on resetting BP: managing and rebalancing our capital programme and cost base for the new reality of lower prices while always maintaining safe, reliable and efficient operations."
BP said underlying replacement cost profit -- a measure of earnings watched by the market -- dropped almost 10 per cent to $12.1 billion in 2014 compared with a year earlier.
BP booked a $3.6 billion net charge in the fourth quarter, which it said reflected "the impact of the near-term lower oil price environment, revisions to reserves and other factors".
As a result it reported a replacement cost loss of $969 million for the final three months of last year.
BP cuts investment as sliding oil prices hit profits
FE Team | Published: February 04, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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