BP records second quarter profits of $684m amid ‘solid’ half-year results

BP also said second-quarter upstream production was 10% higher than in the same period last year, while half-year production was 6% higher.

The company also recorded second-quarter operating cash flow of $4.9bn after making payments of $2bn because of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “We continue to position BP for the new oil price environment, with a continued tight focus on costs, efficiency and discipline in capital spending. We delivered strong operational performance in the first half of 2017 and have considerable strategic momentum coming into the rest of the year and 2018, with rising production from our new upstream projects and marketing growth in the downstream.”

BP has sold a number of its UK assets this year, including its Forties pipeline business to Ineos for £200m in April, and a 25% stake in its Magnus oilfield and various pipelines for $85m (£68m) in January.

However, BP also announced in May that it had started production in the redeveloped Schiehallion Area in the west of Shetland region.

The new project, dubbed Quad 204, is a partnership between BP, Shell and North Sea oil and gas business Siccar Point Energy.