Oil giant BP has seen a 22% drop in profits in 2007 to $17.29billion (£8.76bn).
The company described the results as ‘disappointing’, while rival Shell last week unveiled record profits of almost £14billion at the end of last week.
BP is said to have had production problems with its US refineries and has struggled with lower margins.
BP reported replacement cost profits, excluding non-operating items, of some $4 billion for the final quarter of 2007, a fall of one per cent on the corresponding quarter of 2006.
Chief executive Tony Hayward described BP's profits performance in the final three months of last year as ‘very disappointing’.
He added: ‘Output is now ramping up from those fields and refineries and we anticipate that will feed through to the bottom line in the course of the year.
'We expect BP’s overall oil and gas production to grow in 2008, although our exact net volumes will depend on how the crude price affects entitlements from production-sharing agreements.’
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