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BP increases shareholder payout

LONDON, Feb 7 (KUNA) -- BP signalled a further step in its recovery Tuesday by hiking its payout for shareholders for the first time since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In a statement, Chief executive Bob Dudley said the oil giant, which accounts for one pound in every six invested by pension schemes, remained on the "right path" as he unveiled a 14 percent increase in the company's dividend to 5.1 pence a share.

Meanwhile, the group said that, as of December 31st, it had paid out USD 7.

5 billion (4.7 billion pounds) for individual, business and government claims since the incident, which claimed 11 lives, as it prepares to go on trial at the end of this month.

Dudley said: "As I have said before, we are prepared to settle if we can do so on fair and reasonable terms, but equally, if this is not possible, we are preparing vigorously for trial." Elsewhere, BP reported annual replacement cost profits of USD 23.9 billion (15.1 billion pounds) in 2011, compared with a loss of USD 4.6 billion (3.1 billion pounds) the previous year.

BP has committed to selling USD 38 billion (24 billion pounds) worth of assets before the end of 2013 following the oil spill disaster, and has so far sold USD 19.7 billion (12.5 billion pounds).

The raft of disposals, which cover assets from North America, Egypt, Venezuela, Vietnam and Colombia, has hit production, with full-year levels falling 10 percent to an average of 3.45 million barrels of oil a day.

The group was producing more than 4 million barrels a day before the disaster. However, as crude oil remained at close to USD 100 a barrel in the final three months, the company saw its quarterly replacement cost profit jump to USD 7.6 billion (4.8 billion pounds) from USD 5.2 billion (3.3 billion pounds) in the previous quarter.

Dudley laid out a number of objectives for the year, including drilling 12 exploration wells, double the 2011 total, starting up six major upstream projects and completing payments into the Gulf of Mexico trust fund. Shares opened one percent higher today following the dividend hike and slightly better than expected fourth-quarter performance.