BP Q3 profits beat expectations, reveals $1.25bn buyback

Underlying replacement cost profit came in at $3.32bn, beating forecasts of $3.06bn and compared with a $2.8bn profit in the previous three months and $86m a year ago. The dividend was maintained at 5.46 cents a share.

BP added that it aimed plans a $1.25bn share buyback prior to announcing its fourth quarter results.

'This result was driven by higher oil and gas realizations, higher refining availability and throughput enabling the capture of a stronger environment and a stronger gas marketing and trading result, partly offset by a higher underlying tax charge,' the company said in a statement.

Looking ahead, BP said it expected fourth quarter reported upstream production to be higher than the third quarter reflecting major project ramp-up, mainly in gas regions, recovery from seasonal maintenance activity and continuing impacts from Hurricane Ida on our non-operated production in the US Gulf of Mexico.

“Within this, we expect production from both oil production & operations and gas & low carbon to be higher,” it added.

“In our customer businesses, we expect lower product demand due to seasonal impacts and continued base oil tightness and additive supply shortages in Castrol.”

Full year 2021 reported upstream production was expected to be lower than 2020 due to the impact of its ongoing divestment programme as BP seeks to raise $25bn from assets sales by 2025.

However, upstream underlying production was forecast to be slightly higher than 2020 with the ramp-up of major projects, primarily in gas regions, partly offset by the impacts of reduced capital investment and decline in lower-margin gas assets.

Our target of $25bn of divestment and other proceeds between the second half of 2020 and 2025 is now underpinned by agreed or completed transactions of around $15.2bn with over $10 billion of proceeds received," BP said.