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Empresas y finanzas

BP quarterly profit rises 34 percent


    (Reuters) - BP Plc posted a better-than-expected 34 percent rise in quarterly profit after increasing production of higher-margin products and selling its liquids and gas at higher prices.

    Underlying replacement cost profit rose to $3.63 billion for the second quarter, above the average analyst forecast of $3.49 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    BP (BP..LO)s shares rose marginally in early trading.

    BP said rising oil and gas production from new upstream products, as well as increased processing of heavy crude at the modernised Whiting refinery in the United States, contributed to cash flow in the second quarter.

    BP said second-quarter production fell nearly 3 percent to 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. Russian crude oil production made up about a third of the company's output.

    BP is by far the biggest foreign investor in the Russian oil sector through its 19.75 percent stake in the Kremlin's state oil champion, Rosneft.

    BP said it had not felt any effect from U.S. sanctions imposed this month on Rosneft over what Washington says is Moscow's reluctance to curb violence in Ukraine.

    Things could get harder for Rosneft as the European Union weighs a new set of punitive measures against Moscow in response to the downing of a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine.

    These may include restrictions on bank transactions and a ban on exports to Russia of oil and gas producing equipment.

    BP said it would pay a dividend of 9.75 cents a share for the quarter ended June 30 versus 9 cents a year earlier.

    BP's shares were up 0.2 percent at 498.00 pence at 0728 GMT.

    (Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Robin Paxton)