LONDON — BP PLC posted Tuesday a 72% drop in profit for the fourth quarter as its oil and gas production continued to fall and it agreed to pay billions of dollars in fines to the U.S. government, a performance that analysts said showed the company is still struggling to recover from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The results, which come as the company faces the start of a trial on Feb. 25 that will determine whether it faces billions of dollars more in civil penalties for the spill, underscore how BP's promised turnaround from the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico almost three years ago is proving elusive.
BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said the company passed many milestones in 2012, including selling assets and starting up new projects, which have laid a solid foundation for growth.
"We will continue to see the impact of this reshaping work in our reporting results in 2013. By 2014, I expect the underlying financial momentum to be strongly evident," Mr. Dudley said.
BP said it started up five major new oil and gas projects last year and expects to bring four more—in Angola, Australia, the Gulf of Mexico and Azerbaijan—into production by the end of this year.
However, the company's total oil and gas production still fell by 7% to 2.29 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2012 and is expected to fall again 2013, mainly as a result of the sale of oil-producing assets to cover the cost of the Gulf spill.
Excluding one-off gains and losses from asset sales or fines, BP's profit was above expectations, but its operating performance was still bumping along the bottom, analysts said.
Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal>>
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
The Northeast Regional Planning Body, a group of state, tribal and federal representatives from New England who are working to implement the National Ocean Policy and address critical New England ocean issues, is holding a series of public meetings in May and June.
The meetings are being held to discuss draft regional ocean planning goals and associated potential actions. The planning body seeks input on these goals and actions. Additional information on the group's progress can be found here.
The meetings will also provide an opportunity to review draft maps and products from initial efforts to gather information on the natural resources and diverse uses of the ocean, including fishing, transportation, energy and infrastructure, aquaculture, and recreation.
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