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BP made a profit of $700 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to a $1.95bn loss for the fourth quarter 2024, as the company pushes on with its strategic reset.
However, the first-quarter 2025 profit is still lower than the $2.2bn profit seen in the first quarter of 2024.
According to its first-quarter results, the company also saw its underlying replacement cost profit grow from a loss in the previous quarter to $569m.
“In February, we announced a fundamental reset of our strategy – to grow the upstream, focus the downstream and invest with discipline in the transition – and we have already made significant progress,” BP CEO Murray Auchincloss said.
“So far this year we have started up three major projects, made six exploration discoveries and have progressed our divestment programme – all while delivering strong operational performance, with over 95% upstream plant reliability supporting the best operating efficiency on record, and over 96% refining availability.”
BP chief financial officer Kate Thomson added: “We are also making good progress on divestments and now expect proceeds of $3-4bn this year. This underpins our confidence in meeting our net debt target of $14-18bn by the end of 2027.
Its results added that BP expects second quarter 2025 reported upstream production to be broadly flat compared with the first-quarter 2025.
Comment on the results, Panmure Liberum director and oil and gas research analyst Ashley Kelty said they “were disappointing and a miss versus consensus –although the poorer performance versus Q4 2024 had been flagged”.
However, it added that it expects its fuels margins to remain sensitive to movements in the cost of supply along with a significantly higher level of planned refinery turnaround activity compared to the first quarter and refining margin environment to remain sensitive to the economic outlook.
The results added that BP expects to make around $14.5bn of capital expenditures in 2025.
Kelty added: “The outlook for BP remains challenging, with incompatible goals of reaching 100% reserve replacement and net debt of $18-19bn unlikely to be achieved given lower commodity prices.
“The slashing of the buyback harms the investment case for BP, and it remains in flux as management seek to make the slow turn away from renewables.”
Auchincloss added: “We continue to monitor market volatility and changes and remain focused on moving at pace. I’m confident that our plans to strengthen the balance sheet, reduce costs, and improve cash flow and returns will grow long-term shareholder value and strengthen the resilience of BP.”
The results are the first since BP chairman Helge Lund announced his plans to step down earlier this year.
Uplift deputy director Robert Palmer criticised BP’s recent decision to pivot away from renewable energy projects in favour of its core oil and gas business.
“Despite endless claims to be driving the green transition, oil and gas majors have shown their true colours time and time again,” he said. “BP joins many of its peers in rolling back on renewables of late, many of whom have sought to capitalise on Trump’s denial of climate change.
“We know that just seven of the 87 offshore oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea plan to invest anything in renewables by 2030.”
He added: “The UK government should recognise these rollbacks for what they truly are – concrete evidence that fossil fuel majors have no interest in shifting to more affordable clean energy and take responsibility for this task out of their hands.”
