A BP company logo at a gas station in London, U.K.
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BP reported first-quarter profit largely in line with expectations on Tuesday, citing tough market conditions at the start of the year.
The British oil giant posted first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $2.4 billion, versus $2.3 billion expected in a Reuters poll. That compared with a profit of $2.6 billion a year earlier and $3.5 billion in the final three months of 2018.
The London-listed company said profits were supported by stronger results from its oil and gas trading operations.
“It was a pretty resilient set of results actually given the environment we came into at the start of the year,” Brian Gilvary, chief financial officer at BP, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday.
Gilvary said the three-month period through to March had been particularly “tough” because of adverse weather conditions, assets being put out of action and lower oil prices in January.
“I think oil prices look pretty firm given where we are today but we are going to continue to maintain capital discipline,” he added.
BP’s results coincided with a significant recovery in oil prices through the first three months of the year. International benchmark Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) have risen by approximately 33% and 40% year-to-date.
The value of a barrel of Brent crude stood at $71.82 Tuesday morning, while WTI traded at $63.43. Shares of BP are up more than 11% since the start of 2019.
