London-based BP has released its fourth-quarter trading results which shows further falls in oil production.
Overall BP production in the fourth quarter of 2006 is expected to be around 3.82 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) compared with 4.02 million boepd in the equivalent period last year.
The company has attributed a number of factors to the decrease in production, including "unusually low seasonal gas demand, Opec quota restrictions and reduced entitlements under production sharing contracts."
At the beginning of 2006, BP were aiming for 4.1 million boepd but had to cut the target to a more realistic objective when the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska was forced to close in August due to severe corrosion in the transit pipes. Before August, Prudhoe produced 400,000 barrels of oil a day.
The results conclude a troubled year for the oil giant in which findings from the US chemical safety and hazard investigation board (CSB) found that BP were aware of significant safety problems at a Texas City refinery before the fatal explosion in March 2005.
The explosion, which killed 15 employees and injured 180, was caused by flammable vapours igniting and is seen as the worst US industrial accident in over ten years.
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