BP 2007 Annual Report Download - page 37

BP ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2007 35
Other vessels
BP uses various craft such as tugs, crew boats and seismic vessels in
support of the group’s business. We also use sub-600 deadweight tonne
barges to carry hydrocarbons on inland waterways.
Gas, Power and Renewables
In 2007, the Gas, Power and Renewables segment included four main
activities: marketing and trading of gas and power; marketing and trading
of liquefied natural gas (LNG); production, marketing and trading of
natural gas liquids (NGLs); and low-carbon power generation through our
Alternative Energy business.
Resegmentation in 2008
With effect from 1 January 2008:
– The Gas, Power and Renewables segment ceased to report
separately.
– The NGLs, LNG and the gas and power marketing and trading
businesses were transferred from the Gas, Power and Renewables
segment to the Exploration and Production segment.
– The Alternative Energy business was transferred from the Gas, Power
and Renewables segment to Other businesses and corporate.
Key statistics $ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 2006 2005
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Sales and other operating revenues
from continuing operations 21,369 23,708 25,696
Profit before interest and tax from
continuing operationsa674 1,321 1,172
Total assets 19,889 27,398 28,952
Capital expenditure and acquisitions 874 688 235
aProfit before interest and tax from continuing operations includes profit after tax of
equity-accounted entities.
The changes in sales and other operating revenues are explained in more
detail below:
$ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 2006 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gas marketing sales 8,639 11,428 15,222
Other sales (including NGL
marketing) 12,730 12,280 10,474
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21,369 23,708 25,696
million cubic feet per day
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Gas marketing sales volumes 3,382 3,685 5,096
Natural gas sales by Exploration and
Production 4,414 5,152 4,747
BP seeks to maximize the value of its gas by targeting high-value
customer segments in selected markets and to optimize supply around
our physical and contractual rights to assets. Marketing and trading
activities are focused on the relatively open and deregulated natural gas
and power markets of North America, the UK and the most liquid trading
locations in Rest of Europe. Some long-term natural gas contracting
activity is included within the Exploration and Production segment
because of the nature of the gas markets when the long-term sales
contracts were agreed.
Our LNG business develops opportunities to capture sales for our
upstream natural gas resources, working in close collaboration with the
Exploration and Production segment. For sales into non-liquid markets
such as Japan and Korea, we aim to secure contracts with high-value
customers. For the majority of sales into liquid wholesale markets such
as the US and the UK, we are building integrated supply chains covering
production, liquefaction, shipping, re-gasification and access to the
wholesale transmission grid. Our strategy is to capture a growing share
of the internationally-traded gas market. We are focusing on markets that
offer significant prospects for growth. Our LNG activities involve the
marketing of third-party LNG as well as BP equity volumes, where this
allows us to optimize our existing asset and contractual positions.
Our NGLs business is engaged in the processing, fractionation and
marketing of ethane, propane, butanes and pentanes extracted from
natural gas. We have a significant NGLs processing and marketing