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BP slashed its dividend as the oil major swung to a loss in the second quarter of the year after suffering a $9.2bn hit from falling oil prices.
The company declared a dividend of 5.25 cents per share for the quarter, down 48.8% from the previous quarter and said the dividend reset would remain fixed at this level.
For the second quarter, the company reported an underlying replacement cost loss of $6.7bn, compared with a profit of $2.8bn on-year, while revenue fell to $31bn from $74 billion.
The loss included $9.2bn in post-tax non-cash impairments across the group largely arising from 'the revisions to its long-term price assumptions and $1.7bn of post-tax non-cash exploration write-offs treated as non-operating items,' the company said.
In the second quarter, production fell 3.5% to 3,655m barrels of oil equivalent per day.
'Looking to the third quarter of 2020, we expect higher product demand, albeit still significantly below last year's levels. We also expect significant continued pressure on industry refining margins into the third quarter,' BP said.
The company said global oil demand was expected to be around 8-to-9m barrels of oil per day lower than 2019, with OECD oil stocks above their five-year range, and gas markets likely to remain materially oversupplied.