The British oil and gas giant BP (British Petroleum) has reported a loss of $6.5 billion (4.5 billion pounds) for the fiscal year 2015 even worse than its 2010 results when it counted the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for which the total bill for criminal and civil penalties and clean-up costs reached around $55 billion.
BP said it would cut 3,000 more jobs in its downstream unit by the end of 2017 this is excluding the 4,000 cuts already announced in oil and gas production as part of a $2.5 billion restructuring programme announced last year.
The industry’s worst downturn in three decades is set to persist with Brent averaging around $33 per barrel in 2016 so far, BP on Monday announced the appointment of Lamar McKay as deputy chief executive from head of exploration in a reshuffle aimed at simplifying top decision-making.
BP in 2015 reduced operating costs by $3.5 billion and said it expected savings to reach $7 billion by 2017.
BP is expected to wrack up even more losses in future – but at a lower level – from the Deepwater Horizon accident that occurred in April 2010. It led to 11 men losing their lives and massive environmental damage was done to the beaches of the southern US.
BP’s share price has been hammered by the Macondo liabilities and more recently the fall in crude prices. The shares, worth 650p pre-Macondo, were trading at 520p five years ago but were trading at 346p as at report time.
