Aker BP swung to a $145 million fourth-quarter loss from a year-earlier profit of $562 million on $944 million in impairment charges, but pledged to raise its 2026 dividend by 5% to $0.6615 per share quarterly. The producer's full-year net profit plunged 93% to $132 million from $1.83 billion in 2024, dragged down by $2.02 billion in impairments for the year. The impairments, mostly non-cash charges on technical goodwill, pushed the effective tax rate to 137% and forced the company to cut its long-term oil price assumption to $73.50 per barrel from $75.00 and gas price assumption to 0.65 pounds per therm from 0.76 pounds.

Fourth-quarter EBITDA fell 9% to $2.07 billion from $2.26 billion as revenue declined to $2.56 billion from $2.60 billion, with realized oil prices dropping 10% to $63.10 per barrel and gas prices falling 6%. Production averaged 410,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter. Operating cash flow fell to $1.59 billion from $2.02 billion on higher tax payments, while capital spending hit $2 billion as the company advanced major projects including the Yggdrasil development and Johan Sverdrup Phase 3 expansion. Net debt rose to $7.09 billion from $6.07 billion after issuing $1 billion in senior notes.

For 2026, Aker BP forecast production of 370,000-400,000 boepd and capital expenditure of $6.20-$6.70 billion. The company said its Solveig Phase 2 project started production Jan. 30 on time and on budget, while the Skarv Satellites development has been accelerated to fourth-quarter 2026 from an earlier target.