British energy giant BP has announced it’s entered positive territory again, logging a slight bottom-line profit for the whole of 2016 and recovering from a huge net loss in the previous year.BP posted a slight net profit for 2016, the company announced Tuesday. Profit after tax stood at $115 million (108 million euros) last year, compared with a net loss of $6.5 billion in 2015.
Weak oil prices were offset by the impact of cost-cutting measures, BP pointed out.
The company noted that fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled as it made progress in adjusting to lower oil prices.
Oil spill impact
Underlying replacement cost profit rose to $400 million from $196 million in the same period a year earlier. The figure reflects the industry’s preferred measure and excludes non-operating items and fluctuations in the value of inventories.
“BP delivered solid results in tough conditions,” BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in a statement.
He added that BP was moving toward completion of the “process for resolving claims arising from the 2010 oil spill.”
In 2017, cash payments related to the spill are expected to be lower than in 2016 to come in at around $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion before falling sharply to around $2 billion in 2018.
hg/jd (AFP, AP, dpa)
