
BP said on Tuesday it’s hard to predict the “ultimate impact” of the coronavirus pandemic and when the current supply and demand imbalances will be sorted, Kallanish Energy reports.
“Our industry has been hit by supply and demand shocks on a scale never seen before, but that is no excuse to turn inward,” said CEO Bernard Looney in the company’s earnings report.
The British oil and gas major said there remains an “exceptional level of uncertainty” regarding the near-term outlook for prices and product demand – particularly while many economies remain under lockdown.
“There is the risk of more sustained consequences depending on the efforts of governments and the public and private sectors to manage the health, economic and financial stability effects of the pandemic,” BP said.
The company also noted that its future financial performance will be impacted by the extent and duration of the current market conditions and the effectiveness of external actions, such as financial interventions.
“It is difficult to predict when current supply and demand imbalances will be resolved and what the ultimate impact of Covid-19 will be,” BP said.
However, Looney’s team anticipates lower upstream production in the second quarter due to some country’s restrictions under the Opec+ deal and a material Covid-19 impact on its downstream business. BP expects “significantly lower” fuels demand in its key European and North America businesses.
BP produced 3.71 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mmboe/d) in Q1 – a decline of 2.8% year-on-year. This volume includes volumes from Rosneft, a company in which BP holds around 20% of.
Natural gas production was down 6.22% y-o-y to 7.38 billion cubic feet (Bcf), with a decline of 11.25% in the U.S. to 2.05 Bcf/d average, and a surge of 68.2% in European production to reach 244 million cubic feet per day.
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