Energy giant BP said yesterday that it had seen a very good 2009, despite missing City profit forecasts for the final three months of the year.
The UK firm, which saw annual profits slump by almost half amid lower oil prices, said its final-quarter surplus rose 33% to £2.16billion.
BP shares slid 3.8% to 572p yesterday after its quarterly numbers undershot market forecasts.
The firm has seen a jump in production over the year, but its refining business was hit by extremely weak trading conditions, particularly in the final months of 2009.
Chief executive Tony Hayward said BP had exceeded many of its own expectations during the year, despite the global economic downturn.
He said recovery in the major economies of the US and Europe was expected to be slow and gradual. While he saw stability in the oil market because of the actions of cartel Opec, he said gas markets were predicted to remain volatile and refining margins would stay depressed for the near future.
BP reported a full-year surplus of £8.75billion for the year to December 31, down 45% on 2008.
Crude oil prices slumped in 2009 from their peak of $147 a barrel during the previous year.
BP said a lack of a significant hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in relatively few disruptions, helped a 4% growth in production last year.
The firm’s major new Thunder Horse field saw its first full year of activity in the region in 2009.
During last year, BP said it gained access to significant new production sites, such as the Rumaila oil field in Iraq, which it said was one of the great oil fields in the world.
But while upstream production was strong in the year, BP has seen a steep reduction in profits from its downstream refining business, where weak demand has affected margins.
Mr Hayward is in the process of a turnaround strategy for the firm and the company reduced staff levels by 3,000 in 2008 with a further 5,000 jobs shed last year, amid estimated cost savings of £2.5billion.
The chief executive – who promised two years ago to “close the performance gap” with the rest of the industry – said there were still significant opportunities to drive efficiencies across the business. He added: “We are back in the pack and doing fine but there is still a gap.”
Mr Hayward said that further cost savings were likely to be achieved largely by driving costs down across its supply chain rather than a further round of significant job cuts.
BP North Sea employs about 3,000 staff, split between the UK and Norway.
The company has more than 30 platforms in UK waters, while daily North Sea output is about 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent.