I suppose it's a good thing when a somewhat mixed quarter represents significant progress for a company. That's precisely the situation at BP
On the plus side of the ledger for the company's quarter, earnings increased 53% to $4.4 billion, compared to $2.88 billion in the last quarter of 2006, but its replacement cost profit -- a measure that removes the effects of changes in inventory valuations -- slipped 24%. Revenues were up 29% to $79.9 billion.
Aside form its purely financial performance in the quarter, BP, which is operating under its still-new CEO Tony Hayward, continues to attempt to dig out from a string of difficulties in the recent past. Included were an explosion in 2005 at its Texas City, Texas, refinery that took 15 lives and injured hundreds, along with pipeline leaks in Alaska and refinery outages in the U.S.
Nevertheless, there does seem to be progress at the company on several fronts. Perhaps most importantly, unlike its other major integrated company peers, including ExxonMobil
But, as has been the case with some other integrated companies, including Chevron and Marathon
So overall, BP, which is also increasing its quarterly dividend by 25%, is making notable progress from the downtrodden status it had as recently as last year. And while its relative turnaround is laudable, I'd recommend that, with crude prices slipping, Fools with a taste for energy look more closely for now at the international oilfield services players.
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