The ratings on BP PLC continue to reflect its excellent global oil and gas asset base, notably upstream and its moderate financial profile and policies. Over the past two years, BP's traditionally strong operating performance has faltered on a series of operating issues affecting its core operations, especially in the U.S. These difficulties come close on the heels of setbacks in 2005. The reasons behind BP's underperformance, illustrated by the January-September 2007 17% year-on-year decline in its earnings before interest, taxes, non-recurring items, and certain losses on derivatives, are: Repeated delays in commissioning the group's major Atlantis and Thunder Horse fields, which combined should net BP some 300,000 highly cash-generative barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) at peak, equating
