Bob Dudley, the new chief executive of BP, has sent the clearest signal yet that the UK oil group is on course to restore its dividend payments next year after suspending them in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill.
Mr Dudley told the Financial Times that a final decision would not be taken by the board until next year, but said the prospects for a resumption to pay-outs were “encouraging”.
“My view, given the current environment, what we believe will be the liabilities to the US and the performance of the business today, is that it is encouraging for us to be able to get back to where we will consider restoring a dividend,” he said as he prepared to formally take over as chief executive on Friday. “I can’t say we will restore a dividend but . . . that is a reasonable direction.”
BP announced in June that it was cancelling its previously declared first-quarter dividend and would not pay interim dividends for the following two quarters as it agreed to set up a $20bn escrow fund to pay for claims from the spill.
At the time, the group said it would consider resumption of payments in 2011, but Mr Dudley’s comments are the most positive to date.
Shareholders have seen the value of their investment tumble after the disaster and BP’s shares are still 34 per cent below the level they were trading at before April 20.
The move to suspend the dividend was a blow to UK pension and equity income funds which had large weightings in BP shares. Before the crisis, exposure to BP accounted for more than 6 per cent of most UK income fund managers’ porfolios.
Mr Dudley is under pressure to restore BP’s reputation as a safe and reliable operator and on Wednesday unveiled a major restructuring of its exploration business as well as a new safety unit with far-reaching powers to intervene in operations.
He told the FT that the company had suffered a “near-death experience” and would look at “anything and everything” to be confident it can manage risk.
He defended BP’s safety record, insisting progress had been made under his predecessors. “It is certainly not my belief that BP does not have a safety culture, but I think we need to step back now and look at risk management of safety in a different way,” he said.
BP’s employees, Mr Dudley added, should not have to be put in the position of having to make a choice between “commercial economics” and safety.
“We have a culture that has a focus on safety, but I think we have no choice except to now build in more checks and balances on it,” he said.
Strategically, he said, BP was continuing to look at various options and would be in a position to paint a “strategic picture” for investors at the company’s fourth-quarter results next February.
The company plans to sell up to $30bn worth of assets over the next 18 months. Whilst there might be some asset disposals in the US, he ruled out withdrawing from the country.
“It is not a strategic direction for us to withdraw from the US,” he said.