BP Says Output Fell, Texas City Closure Cost $900 Mln

BP Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said a decline in oil and gas production worsened in the fourth quarter, with damage from hurricanes costing more than $900 million in profit at its Texas City refinery.

Output in the period was about 4.01 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, 2.2 percent less than the 4.1 million reported in the year-earlier period, London-based BP said today in a statement. Production fell 2.1 percent in the previous quarter, the first quarterly drop in two years.
The hurricanes hurt BP’s output after Chief Executive Officer John Browne spent about $90 billion on acquisitions in the U.S. to build the country into the company’s most important market. The storms set back the start of the Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf, now expected no sooner than July instead of last quarter. No date was given today for the Texas plant to resume processing.

“BP’s lack of production is a global phenomenon,” said Puru Saxena, chief executive of Puru Saxena Ltd. in Hong Kong, which manages $130 million for clients. “The world’s consuming a lot more oil and supplies are getting tighter. New output is going to take time to hit the market.”

Bloomberg