BP in the black, buys back shares

BP said on Tuesday that it would start buying back shares next quarter as it posted Q3 net income of USD 1.87 billion, or about double its profit from the same period last year.

“We are steadily building a track record of delivering on our plans and growing across our businesses,” BP Group CEO Bob Dudley said in a statement. “This quarter, three new Upstream projects and the highest Downstream earnings in five years, underpinned by reliable operations and disciplined spending, have generated healthy earnings and cash flow.”

The super-major could spend up to USD 400 million per quarter on the share buyback, becoming the first big European oil company to resume the practice after the 2014 downturn, Reuters reported.

“What the buyback signals is we’re back into a normality, having come through the headwinds of Macondo and the lower oil-price correction,” CFO Brian Gilvary told Bloomberg, referring to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that has cost BP more than USD 60 billion. “We will have to continue to manage the volatility that comes with this market, but we now have a base business that can balance itself at USD 49 a barrel.”