BP reports $5.2 billion loss, more job cuts

BP has announced that it incurred a $5.2-billion loss in 2015 and that it is cutting 7,000 jobs worldwide in response to the plunge in the price of oil. The job loss announcement, which came in conjunction the company’s report on its 2015 results, included the job reduction of 4,000 that the company announced in January. The company says that while those original 4,000 job losses are in the upstream sector, the additional 3,000 job losses are in the downstream sector - apparently these additional losses will not apply to Alaska.

In January BP said that the job losses in Alaska would result in a 13 percent reduction in employees and agency contractors.

In announcing its results, BP said that it had actually made an operating profit of $5.9 billion in 2015. However, an adjustment for non-operating items led to the overall loss figure. Dominating the non-operating items for 2015 was $11.9 billion in costs relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

- ALAN BAILEY