BP's 2020 losses hit $20bn as demand drops and oil prices plummet

A UK gas and oil company has reported that it saw losses of more than $20bn across 2020 as demand slowed.

BP announced today (2 February) that its losses for 2020 totalled $20.305bn, down from $4.026bn profit in the previous year - a change of more than 150 per cent.

The multinational firm said that the losses were driven by lower oil and gas prices - the year’s low being $11.26 per barrel - “significant” exploration write-offs and a drop in demand.

However, towards the end of the year, profits improved, with fourth quarter figures reaching $1.4bn compared to a third quarter loss of $0.5bn.

This comes as BP’s ‘reinvent’ programme gets underway, which will see approximately 10,000 people leave the company.

Bernard Looney, CEO of BP, commented: “2020 will forever be remembered for the pain and sadness caused by Covid-19. Lives were lost - livelihoods destroyed.

“Our sector was hit hard as well. Road and air travel are down, as are oil demand, prices and margins. It was also a pivotal year for the company.

“We launched a net zero ambition, set a new strategy to become an integrated energy company and created an offshore wind business in the US.

“We began reinventing BP - with nearly 10 thousand people leaving the company. We strengthened our finances - taking out costs and closing major divestments.

“And through all of this, the underlying operations of the company remained safe - one of our safest years - and reliable, and major new projects were brought on line.

“I appreciate our team’s commitment to deliver the energy the world needed and am grateful for the support we received from investors and the communities where we work. We expect much better days ahead for all of us in 2021.”

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