BP PLC (BP) has posted its biggest year-on-year increase in hydrocarbon output for almost four years to produce a little over 4 million barrels equivalent of oil and gas a day in the first quarter of 2009, its chief executive, Tony Hayward, said Thursday.
This is the biggest year-on-year increase since the second quarter of 2005 and the largest average quarterly production since the second quarter of 2006, according to company data.
Much of the increase comes from the startup of the Thunder Horse field in the Gulf of Mexico this year, which is now producing around 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
"We now expect to grow production between 1% and 2% out to 2013 based on existing projects and have the potential to continue the growth out to 2020," Hayward said.