By Ron Bousso
LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - BP said on Thursday anoil market rebalancing and a bounce in oil prices has allowedthe company to maintain its dividend but signaled the payout wasno longer sacrosanct.
BP, which had long said dividends were an absolute priority,said that although its goal was to maintain dividends, it "must"at the same time secure future by investing wisely.
"Be assured that we keep this balance under regular review.Should the oil price remain lower, longer than expected, we willneed to revisit our financial framework," BP ChairmanCarl-Henric Svanberg told the annual shareholder meeting.
Last year, Italy's ENI became the first major tocut dividends which had become generous after years of high oilprices.
BP's stock was down 1.2 percent at 1130 GMT, slightlyunderperforming the broader FTSE index and the oilprice. (Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Jason Neely)