據路透社4月28日報道，因當前石油需求遭受重創，并表示其對未來前景異常不確定，英國石油公司(BP)第一季度利潤暴跌三分之二，債務大幅增加。

總部位于倫敦的BP表示，預計該公司第二季度煉油利潤率將大幅下降，屆時全球出行限制將達到頂峰，從而抑制汽油、柴油和航空燃油的消費。BP稱:“很難預測目前的供需失衡何時將得到解決，當前形勢的最終影響也很難預測。”

由于油價暴跌和需求下滑，歐佩克、俄羅斯和其他產油國達成協議，將全球原油供應量削減約10%，油氣生產面臨“重大不確定性”。

BP公布的基礎重置成本利潤為8億美元，仍高于分析師在該公司提供的調查中預估的7.1億美元。該公司去年報告盈利了24億美元。

與許多同行一樣，面對第一季度油價下跌65%的局面，BP也大幅削減了支出，將2020年的預算削減了25%，至120億美元左右，并減少了美國頁巖業務的產量。

今年第一季度，BP的債務增至514億美元，其負債與資本比率升至36%，遠高于將其控制在30%以下的目標。

BP在第一季度末持有320億美元的流動資金，此前該公司曾通過舉債建立現金儲備來應對收入的下降。

洪偉立 摘譯自 路透社

原文如下：

BP's profit tumbles, debt climbs as coronavirus crisis hammers oil demand

BP’s (BP.L) first quarter profits tumbled by two-thirds as the coronavirus crisis hammered oil demand and the energy major’s debt rose sharply as it warned of exceptional uncertainty ahead.

London-based BP said it expected significantly lower refining margins in the second quarter when global restrictions on movement to halt the spread of the virus reached their peak, throttling consumption of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

“It is difficult to predict when current supply and demand imbalances will be resolved and what the ultimate impact of COVID-19 will be,” BP said in a statement.

It said oil and gas production faced “significant uncertainties” linked to plunging oil prices and tumbling demand, as well as due to a deal between OPEC, Russia and other producers to cut global supplies of crude by about 10%.

BP reported an underlying replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, of $800 million, still beating the $710 million forecast by analysts in a company-provided poll. The company reported $2.4 billion profit a year earlier.

BP, like its peers, responded to a 65% drop in oil prices in the first quarter by sharply reducing spending. BP slashed its 2020 budget by 25% to around $12 billion and reduced output at its U.S. shale operations.

BP’s debt rose to $51.4 billion in the first quarter and its debt-to-capital ratio, or gearing, rose to 36%, significantly higher than its target of keeping it below 30%.

BP held $32 billion in liquidity at the end of the first quarter after the company, like its competitors, raised debt to build up cash reserves to cope with the drop in revenue.