LONDON, March 30 (UPI) -- BP, Britain's huge energy company, will return excess cash to shareholders -- provided crude oil prices remain high, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
BP has pledged to return up to $33 billion of surplus cash to shareholders over the next three years if oil prices remain high.
"There appears to be overwhelmingly more chance of the oil price being above $20 a barrel for the next few years than not," John Browne, chief executive, said Monday.
He said $20 a barrel, the benchmark price the company is using for spending decisions, would allow BP to meet its capital and dividend requirements while cash generated from higher oil prices would go towards share buy-backs.
At $30 a barrel, the payout to shareholders would total about $33.3 billion over three years, while at $25 it would be about $27 billion, or $9 billion a year, including dividends.
