BP Profit Fell On Oil Production Decline

Oil giant BP has said its first-quarter net profits fell 17% compared with the same period in 2006, and were slightly behind forecasts, as oil prices and production fell.

BP said its replacement cost profit, which strips out the impact of changes in the value of fuel reserves, was $4.36 billion in the first quarter.

Excluding one-off items, such as oil field sales, which amounted to a net gain of $363m, the result was just under $4 billion.

Advertisement BP said oil production fell 3%, due to field sales, to 3.91 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter, slightly ahead of analysts' forecasts. The company said higher costs also hit profits at the oil and gas production division, which generates most of BP's profits.