BP PLC (LSE:BP.) can afford to maintain its US$1.5 billion buyback in the current quarter, according to analysts at Barclays, who say suggestions to the contrary are incorrect. According to the bank, BP's policy is to pay out 60% of surplus cashflow for 2023 in the form of share buybacks. But unlike peers such as Shell and Total, BP bases its formula post-capex which can make it volatile depending on working capital movements but has the advantage that on an annual basis net debt should continue to fall.