BP returned to profit in the third quarter as the oil major made “good progress” adjusting to the low crude price environment.
BP notched up pre-tax profits of $1.33billion, against losses of $3.38billion in the second quarter.
Third quarter revenues edged up to $47billion from $46.4billion in the previous three months.
But revenues were short by more than $10billion compared to the third quarter of 2015, when it raked in $56million.
The firm said its quarterly results were affected by a weaker price and margin environment.
BP was also negatively impacted by a number of mainly one-off and non-cash items in upstream, the company said.
The company has divested $2.7billion worth of assets this year.
Its upstream segment reported an underlying pre-tax replacement cost loss of $224million, compared with profits of $823million for Q3 2015.
BP said the result reflected weaker oil and non-US gas prices and lower gas marketing and trading results, together with the impact of higher exploration write-offs and rig cancellation charges.
The company announced an unchanged dividend for the quarter of 10cents per ordinary share, expected to be paid in December.
BP’s expects its 2016 capex to come in at around $16billion, compared to its original guidance of $17billion and $19billion given at the start of the year.
Capex for 2017 is likely to be between $15billion and $17billion, the company said.
Brian Gilvary, BP’s chief financial officer, said: “We continue to make good progress in adapting to the challenging price and margin environment. We remain on track to rebalance organic cash flows next year at $50 to $55 a barrel, underpinned by continued strong operating reliability and momentum in resetting costs and capital spending.
“At the same time we are investing in the projects, businesses and options to deliver growth in the years ahead.”
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