UK oil company BP has added around 2.4 billion new barrels to its non-proved resource base, which now stands at a further 42.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The oil giant also added around 2.4 billion new barrels to its non-proved resource base, which now stands at a further 42.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
BP's position supports production potential of around 4.3 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2012, BP chief executive Tony Hayward says.
Assuming a $60 (38) oil price, BP could boost output over the next four years and projects the capability to sustain production of at least 4 million barrels a day until 2020 without new discoveries or access to new opportunities.
'However, bearing in mind a rise in exploration spend to nearly $1 billion this year together with significant additions of fresh acreage in established areas such as the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and a continuing drive to access new provinces around the world, we expect to do better than this,' Hayward adds.
The company aims for an improvement in pre-tax profits of up to $4 billion within three to four years, assuming an average refining margin of $7.50 a barrel.
BP's likely capital spend for this year is set at between $21 billion and $22 billion, up from $19 billion in 2007. Some $15 billion was earmarked for upstream, $5 billion for downstream and $1.5 billion for the other businesses, including alternative energy. BP has a longer-term $8 billion plan to build a new business, based chiefly on biofuels, solar and wind power.
BP had found a major new reservoir below the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan, one of the largest discoveries in the world last year. Other big finds were made in Egypt, Angola and the Gulf of Mexico.
