BP suspends buybacks in fresh sign of oil price pressure

British oil giant blood pressure It reported fourth-quarter earnings in line with expectations on Tuesday and suspended share buybacks as it sought to shore up its balance sheet as it was negatively impacted by lower crude oil prices.

The London-listed energy company reported underlying replacement cost profit, used as an indicator of net profit, for the final three months of 2025 at $1.54 billion. That met analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion, according to the consensus compiled by LSEG.

BP’s net profit for the full year 2025 was $7.49 billion, below analysts’ expectations of $7.58 billion. That’s down from nearly $9 billion in 2024.

BP said its board decided to suspend the share buyback and fully allocate excess cash “to accelerate the strengthening” of the balance sheet.

“2025 was a year of strong underlying financial results, strong operational performance and meaningful strategic progress,” BP interim CEO Carol Howle said in a statement.

“We have made progress towards our four key goals – increasing cash flow and returns, reducing costs and strengthening the balance sheet – but we know there is more work to be done and we are clear on the urgency of meeting these goals,” he added.

Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill will take over BP on April 1, following Murray Auchincloss’ decision to resign late last year.

Here are some other highlights about earnings:

• BP’s net debt in the fourth quarter fell to $22.18 billion, down from about $23 billion in the same period last year.
• Operating cash flow increases from $7.43 billion to $7.6 billion in the last three months of 2025 a year ago.
• BP set its 2026 capital expenditure budget at $13 billion to $13.5 billion, reflecting the lower end of its guidance range.

The results come at a difficult time for Europe’s oil and gas sector.

Oil prices posted their biggest annual loss since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, driven in part by oversupply concerns, increasing pressure on Big Oil’s commitment to shareholder returns.

BP’s competitors in the industry Ekinor And Shell Both reported weak quarterly earnings last week, citing falling crude oil prices, among other factors.

Ekinor announced It will reduce share buybacks to $1.5 billion this year from $5 billion last year, while also cutting investments in renewable energy and low-emission energy projects.

Shell, on the other hand, kept its buybacks constant at 3.5 billion dollars; It was a move that marked the firm’s 17th consecutive quarter of buybacks of $3 billion or more.