Page 10 - EurOil Week 18 2022

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

BP attributes record quarterly

loss to Russia exit

EUROPE UK-LISTED super-major BP has posted a record result to “exceptional” oil and gas trading, higher
loss of $20.4bn for the first quarter of 2022. oil realisations and a stronger refining perfor-
The company also reported its strongest oper- mance, but said it had been partly offset by the
ational performance in more than a decade on absence of Rosneft from the first-quarter under-
the back of strong commodity prices, but this lying result.
was wiped out by a $24.4bn write-down in the Despite its write-down and resulting quar-
quarter, largely related to BP’s decision to exit its terly loss, BP said it would increase its quarterly
investments in Russia. The withdrawal includes share repurchases to $2.5bn before the end of the
the super-major’s 19.75% stake in Russian oil second quarter of 2022. This comes after it had
producer Rosneft and other businesses with said in February that it would accelerate quar-
Rosneft in Russia. terly share buybacks to $1.5bn.
The super-major’s underlying profit on a BP announced its decision to exit its share-
replacement cost basis – the measure most holding in Rosneft in February, days after Mos-
closely tracked by analysts according to the cow launched its invasion of Ukraine, describing
Financial Times – rose to $6.2bn in the first quar- the military action as a “fundamental change”. It
ter, reaching its highest level since 2008. This was is not the only super-major to announce an exit
also more than double the $2.63bn of underlying – Shell and ExxonMobil are also leaving Russia.
profit on a replacement cost basis recorded in the France’s TotalEnergies initially resisted calls to
first quarter of 2021. withdraw from its Russian investments as well,
The latest figure exceeded analyst expecta- but indicated last week that it may have to recon-
tions of a $4.49bn profit on a replacement cost sider as a result of sanctions that make continu-
basis. BP attributed the better-than-expected ing to operate in the country more challenging.™

POLICY

Hungary to continue to oppose

EU sanctions on Russian oil

HUNGARY ZOLTAN Kovacs, Hungary’s State Secretary for
International Communications, said on May 2
that Budapest remained opposed to proposals
for banning the importation of Russian crude
oil and natural gas into the European Union.
Kovacs wrote in a Facebook post that Hun-
gary had not altered its stance on the question
of petroleum sanctions. “The Hungarian posi-
tion has not changed regarding the oil and gas
embargo: We do not support it!” he declared.
He was responding to a report broadcast by
the German television channel ZDF that Slova-
kia, Austria and Hungary had reversed their ear-
lier decision to veto the proposed ban on Russian
crude oil imports. ZDF had quoted an unnamed Radio 4 that his country was not willing to
high-ranking official in Brussels as saying that all impose sanctions because it had no short-term
EU member states had fallen into line with plans alternatives to working with Russian petroleum
for introducing sanctions after Germany opted suppliers.
to withdraw its veto, provided that it was given “A practical decision based on common sense
enough time to secure alternative supplies. must be made. Ideological aspects cannot play
Kovacs went into greater detail about the a decisive role,” he wrote. “The position of the
rationale underlying the Hungarian govern- Hungarian government is clear and unchanged.
ment’s veto in a second Facebook post, which Even now, it is the representation of the national
went up late on May 2. He said he had told BBC interest and the protection of the country first.”™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 04•May•2022