BP reveals boss Auchincloss recovering after procedure as it signals weaker trading
Oil giant BP has delayed an investor event due to be held in New York to allow boss Murray Auchincloss to recover after a medical procedure as it signalled weaker end-of-year trading.
Its scheduled capital markets event that was due on February 11 in New York will now be delayed until February 26 and will take place in London “to ensure his full recuperation”.
The group confirmed its annual results will go ahead on February 11 as planned.
BP said: “Auchincloss has recently undergone a planned medical procedure from which he is recovering well.
“He will be back in the office by February.”
Auchincloss was appointed to the top role in January last year, having been acting chief executive since September 2023 after the surprise resignation of Bernard Looney after BP’s former boss failed to disclose his past relationships with company colleagues.
Details of Auchincloss’s medical recovery came as BP said in an update ahead of full-year figures that upstream oil and gas production in the fourth quarter was lower than the previous three months, while it expects oil trading to be “weak”.
It said lower refining margins would impact results by between $100m (£82m million) and $300m (£246m).
The group also said it expects impairments of up to $2bn (£1.6bn) and higher-than-forecast annual charges of around $600m (£491m) in its other businesses and corporate division due to foreign exchange losses.
BP said that oil prices were sharply lower in the final three months of 2024, at 74.73 dollars a barrel on average, compared with 80.34 dollars a barrel in the third quarter.
The update is the latest sign of tougher trading across the sector at the end of last year, following FTSE 100 rival Shell last week, which said it expects profits in its gas business to be “significantly lower” in the fourth quarter than the previous three months.
Press Association – Holly Williams