SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 6-K
Report of Foreign Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
14
April, 2026
BP p.l.c.
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
1 ST JAMES'S SQUARE, LONDON, SW1Y 4PD, ENGLAND
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file
annual
reports
under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form
20-F |X| Form 40-F
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information
contained
in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the
Commission
pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act
of
1934.
Yes No
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Exhibit
1.1
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1Q26 BP
plc Trading Statement Part 1 of 1 dated 14 April 2026
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Exhibit 1.1
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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London 14 April 2026
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BP p.l.c. Trading Statement
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First quarter 2026 trading statement
The following Trading Statement provides a summary of BP p.l.c.'s
(bp) current estimates and expectations for the first quarter of
2026, including data on the economic environment as well as group
performance during the period. The information presented is not
comprehensive of all factors which may impact bp's group results
for the first quarter 2026 and is not an estimate of those
results.
Also
refer to bp's fourth quarter and full year 2025 group results
announcement on 10 February 2026 for first quarter and full year
2026 guidance items which continue to apply unless explicitly
stated. A summary of that guidance is provided in the Appendix to
this Trading Statement. All information provided is subject to the
finalization of bp's financial reporting processes and actual
results may vary. See the Glossary for a definition of guidance
items included in this Trading Statement.
bp's
group results for the first quarter 2026 are scheduled to be
published on 28 April 2026.
Updated
1Q26 guidance
These estimates and expectations include impacts
associated with the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the
current market conditions resulting in heightened volatility in
crude oil, natural gas and refined products prices in the latter
part of the first quarter. These market conditions are expected to
impact financial results, including trading results and working
capital movements, increase the dislocation between marker prices
versus actual prices realized by bp in 1Q 2026, and increase the
impact of price lagsa.
Earnings considerations for 1Q 2026 underlying RC profit before
interest and tax, relative to 4Q 2025:
● Reported
upstream production in the
first quarter is expected to be broadly flat compared to the fourth
quarter 2025 (2,344
mboe/d). Within
this,
◦ gas
& low carbon energy is expected to be slightly higher compared
to the fourth quarter 2025 (788
mboe/d).
◦ oil
production & operations is expected to be slightly lower
compared to the fourth quarter 2025 (1,555
mboe/d) including price
impacts on PSA and TSC entitlement volumes.
● Gas
& low carbon energy segment: realizations are expected to be broadly flat
compared to the prior quarter. These include the impact of price
lagsa and
the changes in non-Henry Hub natural gas marker prices. The gas
marketing and trading result is expected to be average
(fourth
quarter 2025 average).
● Oil
production & operations segment: realizations are expected to have an impact
compared to the prior quarter in the range of +$0.1 to 0.2 billion.
These include the significant impact of the price
lagsa on
bp's production, particularly in the Gulf of America and the UAE
where production is priced on one and two month lagged basis
respectively. Compared to the prior quarter, reflecting production
mix, cash costs are $0.1 billion higher and DD&A charge is
broadly flat (fourth quarter 2025 $2.0
billion) due to a higher
unit charge.
● Customers
& products segment: compared to the prior quarter, results are
expected to reflect the following factors:
◦ customers -
seasonally lower volumes and lower retail fuels margins, more than
offset by stronger midstream performance.
◦ products -
stronger realized refining margins in the range of +$0.1 to 0.2
billion and a lower impact from turnaround activity. The oil
trading result is expected to be exceptional (fourth quarter 2025
weak).
Other financial considerations for 1Q 2026
● The
group underlying effective tax rate for the first quarter is
expected to be around 35%, reflecting the higher results in
products.
● Capital
expenditure in the first quarter is expected to be broadly flat
with the organic capital expenditure in the fourth quarter
2025 ($3.5
billion).
● Net
debt at the end of the first quarter is expected to be in the range
of $25 to 27 billion compared to the end of the fourth quarter
2025 ($22.2
billion). This is driven
primarily by a significant working capital build in the range of $4
to 7 billion, largely due to the price
environment.
a. See
Trading conditions and rules of thumb section
below.
Underlying replacement cost (RC) profit before interest and tax,
underlying effective tax rate, organic capital expenditure, net
debt, working capital (after adjusting for inventory holding gains,
fair value accounting effects and other adjusting items) and
underlying operating expenditure are non-IFRS
measures.
Trading conditions and rules of thumb
The marker prices and margins below do not represent the actual
prices or margins realized by bp during the given
periods.
● Brent
averaged $81.13/bbl in the first quarter 2026 compared to
$63.73/bbl in the fourth quarter 2025.
● US
gas Henry Hub first of month index averaged $5.05/mmBtu in the
first quarter 2026 compared to $3.55/mmBtu in the fourth quarter
2025.
● The
bp RIM averaged $16.9/bbl in the first quarter 2026 compared to
$15.2/bbl in the fourth quarter 2025.
Rules of thumb below are intended to give directional indicators of
the impact of changes in the trading environment on bp's 2026
full-year pre-tax results. These rules of thumb are approximate and
based upon bp's current portfolio of oil and gas businesses. The
weighting of the rules of thumb for Brent and Henry Hub is an
approximate split of 80% to oil production & operations and 20%
to gas & low carbon energy.
The
relationship between prices and results is not necessarily linear
across a wide range of oil and gas prices. Changes in margins,
differentials, seasonal demand patterns, operational issues, hedge
positions and other factors including timing of acquisition and
divestment activity, can also materially impact the results.
Hedging activity impacts the Henry Hub rule of thumb and as a
result should not be treated as representative of the longer-term
sensitivity.
Significant
differences between the estimates implied by the application of the
rules of thumb and the actual results themselves may also arise due
to complex mechanisms for calculating government shares of oil and
gas revenues in some jurisdictions, depending on price
levels.
The bp Refining Indicator Margin rule of thumb
reflects the sensitivity of the group's results to changes in
refining margins. However, actual margins realized by bp may vary
due to a variety of factors, including the actual mix of a crude
and product for a given quarter. Under the current market
conditions, and resulting heightened volatility in commodity and
refined product prices, crude differentials, transportation costs
and product mix may vary significantly. See Refining
Indicator Margin link
for more information.
Further information on prices and bp's current rules of thumb can
be found at the following link: bp.com
Rules of Thumb
Rules of thumb
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Operating environment rules of thumb for the full year
2026
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Impact on pre-tax replacement cost operating profit
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Oil pricea
Brent +/- $1/bbl
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$340m
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Natural gas pricea
Henry Hub +/- $0.10/mmBtu
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$40m
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Refining indicator margin
RIM +/- $ 1/bbl
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$550m
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a. Combined
indicator for oil production & operations and gas & low
carbon energy.
Appendix
Select financial and operating metrics
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4Q25 reported
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1Q26 updated outlook
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upstream productiona (mboe/d)
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2,344
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broadly flat
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oil production & operations production (mboe/d)
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1,555
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slightly lower
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gas & low carbon energy production (mboe/d)
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788
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slightly higher
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Gas marketing and trading result
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average
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average
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oil production & operations depreciation, depletion &
amortization ($ billion)
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2.0
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broadly flat
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Oil trading result
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weak
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exceptional
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Net debt ($ billion)
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22.2
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25 to 27
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Organic capital expenditure ($ billion)
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3.5
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broadly flat
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a. Because
of rounding, upstream production may not agree exactly with the sum
of gas & low carbon energy and oil production &
operations.
Guidance issued in 4Q25 Stock Exchange
Announcementa
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Guidance Area
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Full Year 2026
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1Q26 vs 4Q25
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Reported and underlying
upstream production
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Reported upstream production to be slightly lower and underlying
upstream production to be broadly flat, of which oil production
& operations broadly flat and gas & low carbon energy
lower
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Reported upstream production to be broadly flat
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Customers
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● Expect
to make continued progress growing cash flows, supported by lower
underlying operating expenditure driven
by structural cost reductions. These benefits will be partly offset
by the earnings impact of completed and announced
divestments
● Reported
earnings will benefit from lower depreciation as a result of the
assets held for sale accounting treatment of Castrol
following the planned divestment
● Fuel
margins remain sensitive to movements in the cost of
supply
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Seasonally lower volumes
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Products
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Significantly lower level of turnaround activity
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● Lower
industry refining margins
● Partly
offset by a lower level of refinery turnaround
activity
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OB&C
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Around $1bn charge
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DD&A
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Broadly flat
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Underlying effective tax rateb
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Around 40%
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Capital expenditure
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$13-13.5bn, weighted to the first half
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Broadly flat
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Divestment and other proceeds
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$9-10bn, including ~$6bn from the announced Castrol transaction,
all significantly weighted to the second half
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Gulf of America oil settlement payments
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~$1.6bn pre-tax including $0.4bn in 1Q and $1.1bn
2Q
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a Refer
to bp's fourth quarter and full year 2025 group results
announcement and bp.com for full text.
b Underlying
effective tax rate is sensitive to a range of factors, including
the volatility of the price environment and its impact on the
geographical mix of the group's profits and
losses.
Glossary
Capital expenditure is
total cash capital expenditure as stated in the condensed group
cash flow statement. Capital expenditure for the operating
segments, gas & low carbon energy businesses and customers
& products businesses is presented on the same
basis.
Net debt and gearing are
non-IFRS measures. Net debt is calculated as finance debt, as shown
in the balance sheet, plus the fair value of associated derivative
financial instruments that are used to hedge foreign currency
exchange and interest rate risks relating to finance debt, for
which hedge accounting is applied, less cash and cash equivalents.
Net debt does not include accrued interest, which is reported
within other receivables and other payables on the balance sheet
and for which the associated cash flows are presented as operating
cash flows in the group cash flow statement. Gearing is defined as
the ratio of net debt to the total of net debt plus total equity.
bp believes these measures provide useful information to investors.
Net debt enables investors to see the economic effect of finance
debt, related hedges and cash and cash equivalents in total.
Gearing enables investors to see how significant net debt is
relative to total equity. The derivatives are reported on the
balance sheet within the headings 'Derivative financial
instruments'. The nearest equivalent measures on an IFRS basis are
finance debt and finance debt ratio. A reconciliation of finance
debt to net debt is provided in the Stock Exchange
Announcement.
We are unable to present reconciliations of forward-looking
information for net debt or gearing to finance debt and total
equity, because without unreasonable efforts, we are unable to
forecast accurately certain adjusting items required to present a
meaningful comparable IFRS forward-looking financial measure. These
items include fair value asset (liability) of hedges related to
finance debt and cash and cash equivalents, that are difficult to
predict in advance in order to include in an IFRS
estimate.
Organic
capital expenditure is a
non-IFRS measure. Organic capital expenditure comprises capital
expenditure on a cash basis less inorganic capital expenditure. bp
believes that this measure provides useful information as it allows
investors to understand how bp's management invests funds in
developing and maintaining the group's assets. The nearest
equivalent measure on an IFRS basis is capital expenditure on a
cash basis and a reconciliation to IFRS information is provided in
the Stock Exchange Announcement.
Production-sharing
agreement/contract (PSA/PSC) is an arrangement through which an oil and gas
company bears the risks and costs of exploration, development and
production. In return, if exploration is successful, the oil
company receives entitlement to variable physical volumes of
hydrocarbons, representing recovery of the costs incurred and a
stipulated share of the production remaining after such cost
recovery.
Replacement
cost (RC) profit or loss reflects the replacement cost of inventories sold
in the period and is calculated as profit or loss attributable to
bp shareholders, adjusting for inventory holding gains and losses
(net of tax). RC profit or loss for the group is a non-IFRS
measure. The nearest equivalent measure on an IFRS basis is profit
or loss attributable to bp shareholders.
Realizations are
the result of dividing revenue generated from hydrocarbon sales,
excluding revenue generated from purchases made for resale and
royalty volumes, by revenue generating hydrocarbon production
volumes. Revenue generating hydrocarbon production reflects the bp
share of production as adjusted for any production which does not
generate revenue. Adjustments may include losses due to shrinkage,
amounts consumed during processing, and contractual or regulatory
host committed volumes such as royalties. For the gas & low
carbon energy and oil production & operations segments,
realizations include transfers between businesses and are based on
sales by consolidated subsidiaries only - this excludes
equity-accounted entities.
Refining
indicator margin (RIM) is
a simple indicator of the weighted average of bp's crude slate and
product yield as deemed representative for each refinery. Actual
margins realized by bp may vary due to a variety of factors,
including the actual mix of a crude and product for a given
quarter.
Structural
cost reduction is
calculated as decreases in underlying operating expenditure as a
result of operational efficiencies, divestments, workforce
reductions and other cost saving measures that are expected to be
sustainable compared with 2023 levels. The total change between
periods in underlying operating expenditure will reflect both
structural cost reductions and other changes in spend, including
market factors, such as inflation and foreign exchange impacts, as
well as changes in activity levels and costs associated with new
operations. Estimates of cumulative annual structural cost
reduction may be revised depending on whether cost reductions
realized in prior periods are determined to be sustainable compared
with 2023 levels. Structural cost reductions are stewarded
internally to support management's oversight of spending over time.
bp believes this performance measure is useful in demonstrating how
management drives cost discipline across the entire organization,
simplifying our processes and portfolio and streamlining the way we
work. The nearest IFRS measures are production and manufacturing
expenses and distributions and administration
expenses.
Technical
service contract (TSC) -
Technical service contract is an arrangement through which an oil
and gas company bears the risks and costs of exploration,
development and production. In return, the oil and gas company
receives entitlement to variable physical volumes of hydrocarbons,
representing recovery of the costs incurred and a profit margin
which reflects incremental production added to the
oilfield.
Underlying
operating expenditure is a
non-IFRS measure and a subset of production and manufacturing
expenses plus distribution and administration expenses and excludes
costs that are classified as adjusting items. It represents the
majority of the remaining expenses in these line items but excludes
certain costs that are variable, primarily with volumes (such as
freight costs). Other variable costs are included in purchases in
the income statement. Management believes that underlying operating
expenditure is a performance measure that provides investors with
useful information regarding the company's financial performance
because it considers these expenses to be the principal operating
and overhead expenses that are most directly under their control
although they also include certain foreign exchange and commodity
price effects. The nearest IFRS measures are production and
manufacturing expenses and distribution and administration
expenses.
Underlying
production - 2026
underlying production, when compared with 2025, is production after
adjusting for acquisitions and divestments, curtailments, and
entitlement impacts in our production-sharing agreements/contracts
and technical service contract.
Underlying
RC profit or loss before interest and tax for the operating segments or customers &
products businesses is a non-IFRS measure and is calculated as RC
profit or loss including profit or loss attributable to
non-controlling interests before interest and tax for the operating
segments and excluding net adjusting items for the respective
operating segment or business. The nearest equivalent measure on an
IFRS basis for segments and businesses is RC profit or loss before
interest and taxation.
Underlying
effective tax rate (ETR) is a non-IFRS measure. The underlying ETR is
calculated by dividing taxation on an underlying replacement cost
(RC) basis by underlying RC profit or loss before tax. Taxation on
an underlying RC basis for the group is calculated as taxation as
stated on the group income statement adjusted for taxation on
inventory holding gains and losses and total taxation on adjusting
items. Information on underlying RC profit or loss is provided
above. Taxation on an underlying RC basis presented for the
operating segments is calculated through an allocation of taxation
on an underlying RC basis to each segment. bp believes it is
helpful to disclose the underlying ETR because this measure may
help investors to understand and evaluate, in the same manner as
management, the underlying trends in bp's operational performance
on a comparable basis, period on period. Taxation on an underlying
RC basis and underlying ETR are non-IFRS measures. The nearest
equivalent measure on an IFRS basis is the ETR on profit or loss
for the period.
upstream includes
oil and natural gas field development and production within the gas
& low carbon energy and oil production & operations
segments. Upstream production includes bp's share of
equity-accounted entities.
Working
capital is movements in
inventories and other current and non-current assets and
liabilities as reported in the condensed group cash flow
statement.
Change in working capital adjusted for inventory holding
gains/losses, fair value accounting effects relating to
subsidiaries and other adjusting items is a non-IFRS measure. It is
calculated by adjusting for inventory holding gains/losses reported
in the period; fair value accounting effects relating to
subsidiaries reported within adjusting items for the period; and
other adjusting items relating to the non-cash movement of US
emissions obligations carried as a provision that will be settled
by allowances held as inventory. This represents what would have
been reported as movements in inventories and other current and
non-current assets and liabilities, if the starting point in
determining net cash provided by operating activities had been
underlying replacement cost profit rather than profit for the
period. The nearest equivalent measure on an IFRS basis for this is
movements in inventories and other current and non-current assets
and liabilities.
bp
utilizes various arrangements in order to manage its working
capital including discounting of receivables and, in the supply and
trading business, the active management of supplier payment terms,
inventory and collateral.
Cautionary Statement
In
order to utilize the 'safe harbor' provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the 'PSLRA') and
the general doctrine of cautionary statements, bp is providing the
following cautionary statement: The discussion in this announcement
contains certain forecasts, projections and forward-looking
statements - that is, statements related to future, not past events
and circumstances - with respect to the financial condition,
results of operations and businesses of bp and certain of the plans
and objectives of bp with respect to these items. By their nature,
forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because
they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may
occur in the future and are outside the control of bp. Actual
results or outcomes, may differ materially from those expressed in
such statements, depending on a variety of factors, including
(without limitation): the extent and duration of the impact of
current geopolitical and market conditions including price
fluctuations in crude oil, natural gas and refined products;
changes in demand for bp's products; currency fluctuations;
drilling and production results; reserves estimates; sales volume
and sales mix numbers; supply and demand imbalances including as a
result of direct or indirect restrictions on production or
disruptions to supply; regional pricing differentials and refining
margins; seasonal impacts on product demand and operating expenses;
resolution of trading and derivative positions for the quarter; the
timing and level of maintenance and/or turnaround activity; the
timing and volume of refinery additions and outages; the timing of
bringing new fields onstream; natural disasters and adverse weather
conditions; changes in public expectations and other changes to
business conditions; wars, regional conflicts including the Middle
East conflict and acts of terrorism; cyber-attacks or sabotage as
well as those factors discussed under "Risk factors" in bp's Annual
Report and Form 20-F 2025 as filed with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission. Furthermore, additional factors may exist that
will be relevant to bp's group results for the first quarter of
2026 that are not currently known or fully understood. Neither bp
nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update,
revise or supplement any forward-looking statement contained in
this announcement to reflect future circumstances, events or
information.
The contents of websites referred to in this announcement do not
form part of this announcement.
Contacts
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London
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Houston
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Press Office
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Rita Brown
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Paul Takahashi
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+44 (0) 7787 685821
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+1 713 903 9729
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Investor Relations
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Craig Marshall
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Graham Collins
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bp.com/investors
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+44 (0) 203 401 5592
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+1 832 753 5116
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BP p.l.c.'s LEI Code 213800LH1BZH3DI6G760
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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BP
p.l.c.
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(Registrant)
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Dated: 14
March 2026
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/s/ Ben
J. S. Mathews
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Ben J.
S. Mathews
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Company
Secretary
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