BP to spend $1 bln on restructuring

LONDON - Reuters

Oil major BP said yesterday it would spend $1 billion on group-wide restructuring in the coming year as it laid out its long-term plans for its upstream oil and gas business.

The British company said as part of its program to simplify across its upstream and downstream activities and corporate functions, it expected to incur the charges over the next five quarters, including the current quarter.

In light of the current outlook for oil prices, BP said it would also review its capital expenditure plans for 2015.

The group said in a statement it had a strong balance sheet, with historically low gearing of 15 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2014, which provided time and flexibility to adjust to changes in the environment, including the oil price.

Hundreds of jobs are expected to be cut in BP’s main centres in Britain, the United States and elsewhere, sources said. A sharp drop in oil prices, that fell from around $115 a barrel to around $65 a barrel since June, has piled further pressure on BP and its peers as revenues slump.