UK: BP cuts growth forecast after profits hit by safety problems

British Petroleum, Britain's biggest company, Tuesday significantly scaled back its growth expectations after reporting a slump in profits caused by a decline in prices and a series of safety problems.

The company announced that it hoped to produce 4 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil by 2009 and 4.3 million b/d by 2012 -- equivalent to a 12.5 percent decrease in growth expectations.

The cut came as British Petroleum (BP) reported that although its 2006 profits rose by 15 percent to USD 22.3 billion, its profits in the last quarter fell by 12 percent, reflecting the impact of falling oil and gas profits from record highs earlier in the year.

Last year, Britain's biggest company was hit by a series of safety problems at its refineries in the US, its rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and its pipelines in Alaska that forced unplanned expenditure to fix the aging infrastructure.

BP's performance contrasted with its nearest rival Anglo/Dutch Shell, which announced record annual profits of USD 25.36 billion for 2006, the largest profit ever recorded by a UK-listed company.