BP expects $1bn restructuring charge over coming year

Oil giant BP has said it expects to incur restructuring charges of about $1bn over the coming year.

The charges will be taken as part of BP efforts to simplify its business activities and corporate functions.

BP said it would also review its capital expenditure plans for 2015 in light of the oil price outlook. Oil prices have slumped since June.

The firm said it aimed to make its business "stronger and more competitive".

BP announced the charges as it laid out its long-term plans for its upstream oil and gas business.

BP Group chief executive Bob Dudley said: "We have already been working very hard over these past 18 months or so to right-size our organisation as a result of completing more than $43bn of divestments.

"We are clearly a more focused business now and, without diverting our attention from safety and reliability, our goal is to make BP even stronger and more competitive.

"The simplification work we have already done is serving us well as we face the tougher external environment.

"We continue to seek opportunities to eliminate duplication and stop unnecessary activity that is not fully aligned with the group's strategy."

Oil prices have slumped since the middle of the year as fears of oversupply have mounted. The price of Brent crude fell to $65.29 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest level since September 2009.

Earlier this month, BP announced that it would accelerate plans to cut hundreds of back office jobs.

BP employs almost 84,000 people worldwide, including 15,000 in the UK.