Oil producer BP's third-quarter replacement cost net profit rose 58 per cent to $6.975 billion thanks to asset sales but still undershot analysts' forecasts as production and refining margins fell.
BP said it was setting aside another $400 million to cover compensation claims related to a fatal blast at its Texas City refinery last year, pushing the total bill, including repairs and lost profits to around $2 billion.
The world's second-largest fully-quoted oil company by market capitalisation also ditched its 2006 oil and gas production target, saying it would produce only 3.95 million barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) per day this year compared to an original target of 4.1 to 4.2 million boepd as expected.
This is partly due to asset sales but also reflects problems at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, where pipeline corrosion led to cuts in output, and delays in bringing key projects onstream.
BP's shares traded up 0.25 per cent at 603 pence earlier today, compared to a 0.1 per cent rise in the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index.
BP's headline replacement cost result - which strips out gains or losses due to changes in the value of inventories - of $6.975 billion was flattered by $2.47 billion in one-off items such as asset sales and deferred taxes, a BP spokesman said.
Stripping out these gains, third quarter profit was $4.50 billion, compared to a Reuters poll of 10 analysts which gave an average forecast of $4.696 billion.