UK energy giant loses more than $6bn over plunging oil
British energy giant, BP plc, has recorded a huge loss of over six billion dollars for 2015 over falling crude prices.
BP said Tuesday that it slumped into a vast loss in 2015, hit by collapsing oil prices, restructuring costs and a huge writedown on assets.
British Petroleum suffered a loss after taxation of $6.48 billion (5.97 billion euros) last year, compared with a net profit of $3.78 billion in 2014, the group said in a results statement.
The news comes amid the ongoing crude nosedive on energy markets, with world oil prices extending losses in Asia on Tuesday over weak economic data from top consumer China and a realization that an expected deal among producers to cut output would not happen anytime soon.
Prices were boosted late last month by speculation that Russia and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would reach agreement to slash output in the oversupplied market.
But the upward momentum hit a snag after traders became increasingly skeptical about such a deal.
News that manufacturing activity in China contracted at its fastest pace in more than three years in January dealt another blow to sentiment.
Prices fell further in Asia on Tuesday afternoon, where US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March was down 63 cents, or 1.99 percent, at $30.99. Brent crude for April dipped 64 cents, or 1.87 percent, to $33.60.
Oil has lost around 70 percent of its value since June 2014 as supplies piled up and demand was hit by a global economic slowdown led by China, the world's second biggest economy.
Government data on Monday showed China's Purchasing Managers' Index, which tracks activity in factories and workshops, fell to 49.4, the lowest figure since 49.2 in August 2012, and below market expectations.
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