BP profits fall on lower oil prices
BP has reported it made an underlying pre-tax profit of $2.7bn in the second quarter of the year, down 45 per cent from the first quarter and 25 per cent from the same period the year before. Shares are down nearly three per cent.
The fall was driven primarily by lower oil prices, an unusually high underlying effective tax rate of 45 per cent (compared to 35 per cent the year before) from a stronger dollar, and low post-tax income from Russia.
But group chief executive Bob Dudley said the company performed well.
We are seeing growth in production from new high-margin projects and are making good progress in exploration and project delivery. Completion of our operational milestones confirms our confidence in delivering our commitment to materially increase operating cash flow in 2014.