Aker BP sees second-quarter pretax profit, to reverse impairments

OSLO (Reuters) – Aker BP swung to a pretax profit in the second quarter from a loss in the first three months of the year, the Norwegian oil company said in a preliminary update on Tuesday.

Aker BP, jointly controlled by oil major BP Plc and investment firm Aker ASA , will release its full earnings report on July 14.

“Following the partial recovery in oil prices observed in the second quarter, the company expects to reverse parts of the impairments from the first quarter,” Aker BP said, adding that the amount was estimated at $100 million-$150 million.

In the first quarter, Aker BP booked impairments of $654 million, leading to a pretax loss of $414 million.

The company, 30% owned by BP, reported a record quarterly output of 209,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) for the April-June second quarter.

“The company expects to report a positive pre-tax result,” it said.

Aker BP has a stake of 11.6% in Norway’s Johan Sverdrup oilfield, currently the largest producing field in western Europe.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely)