BP has lifted its estimate for the likely cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill by $7.7 billion to $39.9 billion, pushing its profits down sharply in spite of higher oil and gas prices.
BP, the world's biggest non-government controlled oil company by production last year, said delays in capping its blown out well had prompted the increased charge for ending the leak, cleaning up the damage and compensating those affected.
It said third-quarter replacement cost profit, which strips out unrealised gains or losses related to changes in the value of fuel inventories, fell 63 per cent to $1.8 billion.
Stripping out one-offs, including the oil spill costs, the underlying results rose 18 per cent to $5.53 billion, well ahead of forecasts of $4.6 billion.
Separately, BP has sent Japan's Mitsui & Co a new bill for $1.9 billion to help clean-up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This was almost four times more than it demanded in August.
The trading house said it has not decided if it will shoulder any costs. Its unit, Mitsui Oil Exploration Co, holds a 10 per cent stake in the ruptured oil well.
Millions of gallons of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico in the world's worst offshore oil spill, which began in April when a BP rig exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana. The well was capped in July.
BP has been selling assets to raise cash to pay for the clean-up and compensate victims.
Shares of Mitsui ended 0.8 per cent lower at 1,244 yen compared with a flat broader market.
Reuters