BP 2014 Annual Report Download - page 246

(inside front cover and pages 1-50) and Additional disclosures (pages 207-
242), including but not limited to statements under the headings ‘Our
market outlook’, ‘Beyond 2035’, ‘Our business model’, ‘Our strategy’,
‘Outlook’ and ‘Outlook for 2015’, and including but not limited to
statements regarding plans and prospects relating to future value
creation, capital discipline and growth in sustainable free cash flow; plans
to develop resources, increase production, strengthen BP’s portfolio of
high-return and longer-life assets and unlock value from BP’s resource
base; plans relating to future workforce size, initiatives and composition,
including workforce diversity; expectations regarding the future level of
oil and gas prices and industry product supply, demand and pricing in the
near term and long term and BP’s outlook and projections of future
energy trends, including the role of oil, gas and renewables therein; plans
to form key partnerships and relationships with governments, customers,
partners, communities, suppliers and other institutions; expectations
regarding and timing of planned and future acquisitions and divestments,
including the completion of $10 billion of divestments in 2015;
expectations regarding the current and future prospects of BP’s
discoveries, resources, reserves and positions; expectations regarding
BP’s reported and underlying production in 2015; the timing and
composition of planned and future projects including expected final
investment decisions, start-up, construction, commissioning, completion,
timing of production, level of production and margins of such projects;
expectations regarding Rosneft’s future share price and dividend growth
and BP’s plans to explore future opportunities with Rosneft; plans
regarding growing operating cash flow and returns in Downstream,
including by leveraging assets, portfolio management, customer
relationships, technology and trading activity; expectations regarding the
2015 environment for refining and petrochemicals margins; expectations
regarding 2015 refinery turnarounds and future refinery operations;
expectations regarding improvements in cash break-even performance,
earnings potential and future plant events in the petrochemicals
business; expectations regarding future safety performance and plans to
enhance safety, cybersecurity, compliance and risk management; Air
BP’s strategic aims; the future strategy for and planned investments in
alternative energies; the expected annual charges of Other business and
corporate for 2015; expectations regarding the actions of contractors and
partners and their terms of service; expectations regarding future
environmental regulations, their impact on BP’s business and plans to
reduce BP’s environmental impact; expectations regarding changes in
laws and regulations and their impact on BP’s business; plans to increase
efficiency, reliability and product quality, improve margins and create new
market opportunities; expectations regarding future Upstream
operations, including agreements or contracts with or relating to TEPCO,
BP’s CATS business, Tangguh and CNOOC, BP’s joint-ownership
interests in exploration blocks and plans to drill therein; plans to transfer
operatorship of certain fields, expectations of awards from award rounds;
plans related to the Alaska LNG project and the Canadian oil sands; plans
and expectations regarding the Point Thomson production facility, the
Angola LNG plant, the exploration and production-sharing agreement in
Libya, the North Damietta offshore concession, exploration in Morocco,
exploration in India, the Sanga-Sanga CBM PSA, the Southern Gas
Corridor, the Khazzan field, the Gorgon LNG plant and the Ceduna Sub
Basin; expected expirations of concessions, contracts and exploration
periods; projections regarding oil and gas reserves, including recovery
and turnover time thereof; plans regarding compliance with ITRA rules,
sanctions and reporting requirements, including in relation to BP’s stake
in the Rhum joint arrangement and future engagement in business with
Iran; plans to take action under and comply with the EPA Administrative
Agreement; plans with regard to the timing of and actions to be taken at
the AGM, including amendments to the proposal of amendments to the
Articles of Association; expectations regarding future restoration or other
actions to be taken as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident and
related proceedings and their impact on BP’s business; and expectations
regarding legal and trial proceedings, court decisions, potential
investigations and civil actions by regulators, government entities and/or
other entities or parties, and the risks associated with such proceedings
and BP’s intentions in respect thereof; (2) certain statements in
Corporate governance (pages 51-71) and the Directors’ remuneration
report (pages 72-88) with regard to the anticipated future composition of
the board of directors; the board’s goals and areas of focus stemming
from the board’s annual evaluation; plans regarding and the timing of
future audit contract tendering and areas of focus for the audit
committee; the expected percentage of performance shares that will
vest based on performance outcomes; and plans and expectations with
regard to the remuneration, pensions and other benefits of executive
directors, including disclosure of targets, future review schedules,
prospective scenarios for total remuneration opportunities for executive
directors in the future, changes in the metrics used to calculate
remuneration and changes to the limits of aggregate annual
remuneration; and (3) certain statements in the Strategic report (inside
front cover and pages 1-50) and Additional disclosures (pages 211-212),
with regard to future dividend and optional scrip dividend payments;
future capital expenditures and capital investment, including estimated
2015 levels thereof, 2015 taxation, future working capital and cash
management, gearing and the net debt ratio; BP’s intention to maintain a
strong cash position; and expected payments under contractual and
commercial commitments and purchase obligations; 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
receipt of relevant third party and/or regulatory approvals; the timing and
level of maintenance and/or turnaround activity; the timing and volume of
refinery additions and outages; the timing of bringing new fields
onstream; the timing, quantum and nature of certain divestments; future
levels of industry product supply, demand and pricing, including supply
growth in North America; OPEC quota restrictions; production-sharing
agreements effects; operational and safety problems; potential lapses in
product quality; economic and financial market conditions generally or in
various countries and regions; political stability and economic growth in
relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental
regulations; regulatory or legal actions including the types of enforcement
action pursued and the nature of remedies sought or imposed; the
actions of prosecutors, regulatory authorities and courts; the impact on
our reputation following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; the actions of the
Claims Administrator appointed under the Economic and Property
Damages Settlement; the actions of all parties to the Gulf of Mexico oil
spill-related litigation at various phases of the litigation; the timing and
amount of future payments relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill;
exchange rate fluctuations; development and use of new technology;
recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce; the success or
otherwise of partnering; the actions of competitors, trading partners,
contractors, subcontractors, creditors, rating agencies and others; our
access to future credit resources; business disruption and crisis
management; the impact on our reputation of ethical misconduct and
non-compliance with regulatory obligations; trading losses; major
uninsured losses; decisions by Rosneft’s management and board of
directors; the actions of contractors; natural disasters and adverse
weather conditions; changes in public expectations and other changes to
business conditions; wars and acts of terrorism; cyber-attacks or
sabotage; and other factors discussed elsewhere in this report including
under Risk factors (pages 48-50). 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.
242 BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2014