MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP says it expects to take an estimated USD13.0-17.5 billion hit in non-cash impairments and write-offs in the second quarter of 2020 after lowering its long-term assumptions for oil and gas prices, as per Chemweek.
With the COVID-19 pandemic have continued during the second quarter, BP also “now sees the prospect of the pandemic having an enduring impact on the global economy, with the potential for weaker demand for energy for a sustained period,” it says. As part of its ongoing strategy development, BP has been “reviewing its portfolio and its capital development plans,” with this review informed by its views of the long-term price environment and its balanced investment criteria, according to the company.
BP says it has now extended the period of its long-term price assumptions to 2050, as well as lowering them. It adds that as part of its long-term strategic planning, and in the context of its continuing focus on capital discipline, it is also reviewing its intent to develop some of its exploration intangible assets.
Together, these actions will lead to estimated aggregate non-cash impairment charges and write-offs in the second quarter of USD13.0-17.5 billion post-tax, it says. Non-cash, pretax impairment charges against property, plant and equipment are estimated will be USD8.0-11.0 billion, while write-offs of exploration intangibles are estimated at USD8.0–10.0 billion. Further information on the figures will be in BP’s second-quarter results due out on 4 August, it says.
BP’s revised investment appraisal long-term price assumptions now average around USD55/bbl for Brent crude and USD2.90/million British thermal units (MMBtu) for Henry Hub gas for the period 2021-2050, it states. For the next 10 years, the company’s revised average price assumptions for Brent crude and Henry Hub gas are approximately 30% and 16% lower, respectively, than given in its 2019 annual report, it says. The revised assumptions are also lower, on average, by approximately 27% and 31%, respectively, for the period 2020-2050, it adds.
The lower price assumptions are also considered by BP to be "broadly in line with a range of transition paths consistent with the Paris climate goals,” it notes. "BP’s management also has a growing expectation that the aftermath of the pandemic will accelerate the pace of transition to a lower-carbon economy and energy system, as countries seek to "build back better” so that their economies will be more resilient in the future," BP says.
As part of BP’s ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 or before, announced earlier this year, it has been reviewing its price assumptions over a longer horizon, with that work “informed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which increasingly looks as if it will have an enduring economic impact,” says Bernard Looney, BP’s CEO. Aside from resetting its price outlook, the company is also reviewing its development plans, he says. "All that will result in a significant charge in our upcoming results, but I am confident that these difficult decisions - rooted in our net zero ambition and reaffirmed by the pandemic - will better enable us to compete through the energy transition," he says.
According to BP’s first-quarter results, the value of its property, plant and equipment was put at USD130.2 billion, with oil and gas properties making up USD88.6 billion of the amount, while intangible assets were put at USD15.5 billion, USD14.2 billion of which related to exploration intangibles, it says.
BP announced last week it would slash its operating costs by USD2.5 billion in 2021 and cut about 10,000 jobs, mostly before the end of this year, due to the collapse in oil demand caused by COVID-19 and as part of its lower-carbon strategy.
As MRC informed before, BP has entered into an agreement to license its latest generation technology for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) to China’s Dongying Weilian Chemical Co., Ltd. Weilian Chemical is a subsidiary of Dongying United Petrochemical Co., Ltd, one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of petroleum and petrochemical products in China. Weilian Chemical intends to build a 2.5 million tonnes per annum PTA production unit at the Dongying Port Economic Development Zone in eastern Shandong province, adding to Dongying United Petrochemical’s existing refineries and paraxylene (PX) facilities portfolio.
PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which, in its turn, is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, April total estimated PET consumption virtually did not change year on year, totalling 60,840 tonnes (in April 2019 - 60,980 tonnes). 235,160 tonnes of PET chips were processed in Russia in January-April 2020.
BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
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