BP takes $25.5B hit from Russia pullout

Energy giant BP lost more than $25 billion in earnings after it pulled business out of Russia in February, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the company reported in its 2022 first quarter results on Tuesday.

The company reported a first quarter headline loss of $20.4 billion this year, compared to a $2.3 billion profit in the first quarter of 2021. BP estimated that its pre-tax loss totaled $25.5 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

Russia’s war on Ukraine prompted many multinationals to pull out of the country. BP announced in late February it was exiting a 19.75 percent shareholder interest with Rosneft, an oil and petroleum company headquartered in Moscow.

CEO Bernard Looney said the Rosneft exit “resulted in the material non-cash charges and headline loss” that BP had predicted.

“But it has not changed our strategy, our financial frame, or our expectations for shareholder distributions,” Looney said in a Tuesday statement.

After the corporate exodus from Russia, other international companies have also reported earnings losses as a result.

Rival gas giant Shell also reported about a $5 billion loss in its first quarter earnings, after announcing it would shut down all operations and services in Russia in March.

Looney told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that BP was still in good shape and was committed to severing ties with Russia.

“We have been very, very clear. We are announcing our intention to leave the country. We made that decision as I said very, very quickly,” Looney told CNBC.