BP二季度财报显示，10年来首次削减了股息，从而失去了其投资理由的一个基础。

在欧洲同行荷兰皇家壳牌公司(Royal Dutch Shell Plc) 4月份大幅削减股息之后，这一举措在很大程度上已在人们的预料之中。尽管大型石油公司慷慨的支付长期以来一直是其吸引投资者的主要因素，但疫情造成的前所未有的市场动荡，已迫使企业做出在今年以前无法想象的决定。

BP还宣布了一项新的战略来实现其“净零”的目标，目标是到2030年减少40%的碳氢化合物产量，10倍的低碳投资，减少30%-35%的排放量。它不会在任何国家勘探新的石油。

该公司公布第二季度经调整净亏损66.8亿美元，上年同期实现利润28.1亿美元。分析师此前估计亏损为84.5亿美元。该公司将股息削减至每股5.25美分。

根据即将离任的首席执行长达德利(Bob Dudley)的最终财报，BP公司已将第四季度的派息上调至每股10.5美分。但随着疫情在全球蔓延，破坏了需求并打击了油价，80亿美元的年度分红看起来越来越不可靠。

BP的几乎所有业务，从一线到油气生产，都受到了疫情对燃料消耗的毁灭性影响。但有一个亮点:BP表示，石油交易取得了“异常强劲的业绩”。

这家石油巨头庞大的交易部门利用了这一时期的波动性，尤其是从所谓的期货溢价交易中获利。这种交易包括将廉价石油储存起来，同时在远期市场以较高价格出售。道达尔SE、壳牌(Shell)和Equinor ASA都从期货溢价中获益，通过交易收益避免了季度亏损。

美国同行埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil Corp.)和雪佛龙(Chevron Corp.)在交易方面更为谨慎，公布了现代史上最差的一组季度业绩。

赵斌 编译自 钻井网

原文如下：

BP Cuts Dividend for First Time Since 2010

BP cut its dividend for the first time in a decade, removing a cornerstone of its investment case.

The move was largely expected after European peer Royal Dutch Shell Plc slashed its own dividend in April. While Big Oil’s generous payouts have long been its main attraction to investors, the unprecedented market turmoil wrought by the virus has forced companies to take decisions unthinkable before this year.

BP also announced a new strategy to deliver its “net-zero” ambition, targeting a 40% decline in hydrocarbon production, a 10-fold increase in low-carbon investment, and a 30%-35% cut in emissions from its operations by 2030. It won’t explore for oil in any new countries.

The company reported an adjusted net loss of $6.68 billion for the second quarter, following a $2.81 billion profit a year earlier. Analysts had estimated a loss of $8.45 billion. It cut its dividend to 5.25 cents a share.

BP had raised its payout in the fourth quarter to 10.5 cents a share, in the final set of results for outgoing Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley. But as the coronavirus spread across the world, destroying demand and hammering oil prices, the $8 billion annual payout had looked increasingly shaky.

Virtually every part of BP’s business, from its forecourts to its oil and gas production, was hit by the pandemic’s devastating impact on fuel consumption. But there was one bright spot: oil trading delivered an “exceptionally strong result,” BP said.

The oil major’s sprawling trading unit capitalized on the period’s volatility and in particular made money from so-called contango plays. That trade involves putting cheap oil into storage and simultaneously selling it at higher prices on the forward market. Total SE, Shell and Equinor ASA all reaped the benefits of contango, with trading gains saving them from a quarterly loss.

American counterparts Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., which have a more timid approach to trading, posted their worst set of quarterly results of the modern era.