BP sees profits rise but warns of Russia sanctions risk

 

BP has warned that further sanctions against Russia could affect its business as it posted a rise in second quarter profits. BP said that sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis have not affected the oil giant so far, but could do so in the future.
The warning came as European ministers were meeting to discuss bolstered measures against Russia.
Sanctions "could adversely impact our business", BP said.
BP has around a 20% stake in Russian energy giant Rosneft.

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"Any future erosion of our relationship with Rosneft, or the impact of further economic sanctions, could adversely impact our business and strategic objectives in Russia, the level of our income, production and reserves, our investment in Rosneft and our reputation," BP said.

'Cloud on the horizon' The company's second quarter replacement cost profits, which strip out volatility in oil prices, were $3.2bn (£1.9bn), up from $2.4bn in the same period last year.
"I think in the short term they'll be looking in particular at the effect [sanctions are] going to have on technology transfer to Russia," said Russian oil economy expert John Lough.
"But I think, more broadly, this is of course a cloud on the horizon for BP, because the crisis in Ukraine seems to be escalating rather than de-escalating," he told the BBC.
European ministers are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss whether to impose further sanctions on Russia over allegations of its involvement in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Tensions have been heightened by the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which the UK believes was shot down by a missile "supplied by the Russians".
Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have each accused the other of shooting down the Boeing 777, killing 298 passengers.
Mr Lough said sanctions could be "ramped up", and were likely to have an effect on the Russian economy.
Bolstered European sanctions could include the prohibition of exports of technologies used in the Russian oil sector.
For the second quarter, BP said higher oil production in higher-margin areas such as the Gulf of Mexico had boosted its profits.
BP expects third quarter production to be lower than the second quarter due to "planned major turnaround and seasonal maintenance activities in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico".

Oceana Irizarry dies after being struck by crashing plane

 

Caspersen Beach is next to the Venice airport, where the pilot of the small plane was trying to land

A girl who was struck by a plane that crash landed on a Florida beach on Sunday and killed her father has died of her injuries, police have said.

Oceana Irizarry, 9, was walking with her father Ommy, a US Army first sergeant, on a beach in Venice on Sunday when the plane struck them.
Pilot Karl Kokomoor, who radioed a distress call before the crash, and a passenger were uninjured.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.

Family photo of Ommy Irizarry and his nine-year-old daughter Oceana

Oceana was airlifted to hospital immediately after the crash on Caspersen Beach. Her father was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, the Sarasota County sheriff's office said in a statement the medical examiner's office had informed them Oceana had died of her injuries.
"Our precious Oceana has joined her daddy in heaven," the family said in a statement released by All Children's Hospital.
"There are no words to describe the suffering we are experiencing. Their loss is devastating to our family and to everyone who knew them."
Sgt Irizarry and his wife, who lived in Georgia, were in the area celebrating their ninth anniversary, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Mr Kokomoor was attempting to land at Venice Municipal Airport, adjacent to the beach, when he radioed to say the small aircraft was in trouble and he would try to make an emergency landing.
After striking the father and daughter, the plane travelled another 150ft (46m) before crashing into the sand, the Sarasota sheriff's office told Reuters news agency.
In emergency calls from the beach, a family friend is heard crying as she described the scene of the crash.
Another man told emergency officials Oceana was "breathing a little right now", but she was struggling to do so and unconscious.

Russia 'violated 1987 nuclear missile treaty', says US

 

Mr Obama spoke to EU leaders over further sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis

 

Russia has violated a key arms control treaty by testing a nuclear cruise missile, the US government says.

Russia tested a ground-launched cruise missile, breaking the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987 during the Cold War, the US said.
A senior US official did not provide further details on the alleged breach, but described it as "very serious".
The bilateral agreement banned medium-range missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km (300 to 3,400 miles).

Analysis: BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was a landmark Cold War agreement. It essentially eliminated an entire, and highly controversial, class of nuclear weapons. For that reason, it still has resonance.
There have been questions dating back at least to 2008 over whether Russia was developing a weapon that might breach the treaty. So one issue is why Washington has decided to make its declaration now. Is it a reflection of the general deterioration in US-Russian relations, and in particular the fallout from the Ukraine crisis?
Russia has said little. It might argue the Americans are simply wrong, that the missile falls below the range limit. But the widespread suspicion is that it does breach the limits of the treaty. Moscow might also argue the treaty has been overtaken by world events, that other countries are developing similar missiles, and - after all - the Americans pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty when it suited them.
But there is also the argument that such an iconic treaty should actually be expanded beyond the US and Russia, rather than falling into disuse.

The US claims come at a time of heightened tensions between the two sides, with the US criticising Russia for its alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
'Prohibited items' A senior US official, who was not named, said in a statement that the testing of the missile was "a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time now".
"We encourage Russia to return to compliance with its obligations under the treaty and to eliminate any prohibited items in a verifiable matter," the official added.

The agreement was signed towards the end of the Cold War by Mikhail Gorbachev (left) and Ronald Reagan

US President Barack Obama has written to Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the matter, officials say.
This is the first time the US government has made its accusations public, though the issue has simmered for years, the BBC's Paul Blake in Washington reports.
In January, the New York Times reported that US officials believed Russia had begun testing ground-launched cruise missiles as early as 2008.
The US State Department had said at the time that the issue was under review.
The 1987 treaty is at the heart of American-Russian arms control efforts, and was signed by then-Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in the final years of the Cold War, our correspondent says.