BP has trumpeted its route to recovery after a rocky year in the media spotlight following the Deepwater Horizon blowout in April 2010, which dented its oil production and its stock price as investors worried about cleanup costs. Today the oil firm announced that its operating cash flow for the quarter, not including post-tax oil spill spending, was $9.7 billion.

The company reported that oil and gas production in the second quarter of 2011 was down 11% on last year to 3.43 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed), because of the suspension of drilling in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico accident.

Bob Dudley, BP’s group chief executive said: “We expect the momentum of our recovery to build into 2012 and 2013 as new projects come on stream, particularly in higher-margin areas; as we complete current turnaround activity; as we return to work in the Gulf of Mexico; and as uncertainties reduce. At the same time we will increasingly focus both our portfolio and our investments on long-term value growth.”

The British-headed firm also talked up its break into the Indian gas market through its recently announced deal with Reliance.