LONDON — BP PLC reported second-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates after a trading boom faded and the conflict in Libya forced almost $600 million of writedowns.
Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes dropped 64 percent from a year earlier to $1.3 billion, missing the $1.7 billion average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The net result, which included a charge for liabilities from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, was a $6.3 billion loss.
The weaker-than-expected results pile pressure on Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley to cut spending to maintain dividends. Europe’s third-biggest energy producer is no longer benefiting from the strong trading that added about $350 million to profit in the first quarter, while a halt to operations in Libya eroded earnings from oil and gas exploration.
“The miss is primarily because of the Libyan charge,” Jason Gammel, a London-based analyst at Jefferies Group LLC, said on Tuesday. “BP is restructuring costs, and that’s working out well for them as oil continues to be lower.”
Capital investment fell 20 percent to $4.7 billion in the quarter from a year earlier, according to BP.
“Oil prices will be lower for longer,” Dudley said on a conference call with analysts.
