BP expects to incur $1bn restructuring charges

PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil giant BP has said it expects to incur restructuring charges of about $1bn over the coming year, BBC News reports.

The charges will be taken as part of BP efforts to simplify its business activities and corporate functions. BP said it would also review its capital expenditure plans for 2015 in light of the oil price outlook. Oil prices have slumped since June.

The firm said it aimed to make its business "stronger and more competitive".

BP announced the charges as it laid out its long-term plans for its upstream oil and gas business.

BP Group chief executive Bob Dudley said: "We have already been working very hard over these past 18 months or so to right-size our organization as a result of completing more than $43bn of divestments. We are clearly a more focused business now and, without diverting our attention from safety and reliability, our goal is to make BP even stronger and more competitive. The simplification work we have already done is serving us well as we face the tougher external environment. We continue to seek opportunities to eliminate duplication and stop unnecessary activity that is not fully aligned with the group's strategy."

Earlier this month, BP announced that it would accelerate plans to cut hundreds of back office jobs.

BP employs almost 84,000 people worldwide.