BP said it planned to divest $15 billion of assets by mid-2021, having previously targeted $10 billion in asset sales by the end of 2020. The company has already unloaded $9.4 billion in assets since the start of 2019. Its U.S. gas assets sold for less than expected, BP said, contributing to impairment charges of $4.5 billion since October, including $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter. Income from the divestments helped lower BP’s gearing—the ratio of net debt to the total of net debt and equity—to 35% including leases in the fourth quarter, from 36% in the third quarter. The gearing level remains above the company’s long term target of between 20% and 30%. Newsletter Sign-up BP Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said the combination of lower debt and additional divestments had given the company confidence to boost its dividend now. BP’s shares were up 4.3% in early trading. […]