Oil and gas giant BP’s profit fell nearly 80 percent in the fourth quarter in results released Tuesday, dragged down by payouts related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP said that net profit fell to $1.62 billion in the three months ending Dec. 31, down from $7.69 billion in the same period the year before. BP took a loss of $3.85 billion for its settlement of all federal criminal charges with the U.S. government. Underlying replacement cost profit for the period, which strips out the changes in the value of inventories, was down 20 percent on the same period last year at $3.98 billion. The company’s settlement shuts the book on the criminal probe of BP’s role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf oil spill, but civil claims remain.
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