BP 2007 Annual Report Download - page 13

Forward-looking statements
In order to utilize the ‘Safe Harbor’ provisions of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, BP is providing the following
cautionary statement. This document contains certain forward-looking
statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations
and businesses of BP and certain of the plans and objectives of BP with
respect to these items. These statements may generally, but not always,
be identified by the use of words such as ‘will’, ‘expects’, ‘is expected
to’, ‘should’, ‘may’, ‘objective’, ‘is likely to’, ‘intends’, ‘believes’, ‘plans’,
‘we see’ or similar expressions. In particular, among other statements,
(i) certain statements in Performance review (pages 7-56) with regard to
management aims and objectives, future capital expenditure, future
hydrocarbon production volume, date(s) or period(s) in which production
is scheduled or expected to come onstream or a project or action is
scheduled or expected to begin or be completed, capacity of planned
plants or facilities and impact of health, safety and environmental
regulations; (ii) the statements in Performance review (pages 7-45) with
regard to planned expansion, investment or other projects and future
regulatory actions; and (iii) the statements in Performance review (pages
46-56) with regard to the plans of the group, cash flows, opportunities for
material acquisitions, the cost of and provision for future remediation
programmes, liquidity and costs for providing pension and other post-
retirement benefits; and including under ‘Liquidity and capital resources’
with regard to future production, future refining availability, future capital
expenditure, sources of funding, future revenues and financial
performance, potential for cost efficiencies, level of free cash flow
allocated to share buybacks, shareholder distributions and share
buybacks, gearing, working capital and expected payments under
contractual and commercial commitments; are all forward-looking
in nature.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances
that will or may occur in the future and are outside the control of BP.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in such
statements, depending on a variety of factors, including the specific
factors identified in the discussions accompanying such forward-looking
statements; the timing of bringing new fields onstream; future levels of
industry product supply, demand and pricing; operational problems;
general economic conditions; political stability and economic growth in
relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental
regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; development and use of new
technology; the success or otherwise of partnering; the actions of
competitors; natural disasters and adverse weather conditions; changes
in public expectations and other changes to business conditions; wars
and acts of terrorism or sabotage; and other factors discussed elsewhere
in this report including under ‘Risk factors’ on pages 9-10. In addition to
factors set forth elsewhere in this report, those set out above are
important factors, although not exhaustive, that may cause actual results
and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements.
Statements regarding competitive position
Statements referring to BP’s competitive position are based on the
company’s belief and, in some cases, rely on a range of sources,
including investment analysts’ reports, independent market studies and
BP’s internal assessments of market share based on publicly available
information about the financial results and performance of market
participants.
BP ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2007 11