BP on Tuesday reported profits of 4.7 billion
dollars for the third quarter of 2012, down from 5.2 billion dollars
in the same quarter last year.
Despite the slide in replacement cost profit, which strips out the
effect of oil price movements, the company was "on track" with its
2014 strategy, chief executive Bob Dudley said.
BP had shown "strong progress" and was raising its quarterly
dividend by 12.5 per cent.
The company said it would make a final payment of 860 million
dollars into the 20-billion-dollar compensation fund for victims of
the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill by the end of the year.
Dudley said he was confident that BP was "entering a new era" as
it tried to put the turmoil of the last few years behind it.
It would continues to settle the civil and criminal claims in the
United States resulting from the spill.
However, unresolved issues remained, said the company, not ruling
out legal proceedings over claims in the United States.
"BP has repeatedly said that it is willing to settle on reasonable
terms but otherwise continues to prepare vigorously for the start of
trial," said the statement.
BP earlier this month signed a major deal with Russian
state-backed company Rosneft over the sale of its 50-per-cent share
in former joint venture TNK-BP.
