BP reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates after higher oil prices failed to fully compensate for lower income from refining.

Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes more than doubled from a year earlier to $400 million, but fell short of the $567.7 million average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Adjusted downstream profit before interest and tax, which includes refining and trading, fell 28 per cent to $877 million. While crude’s rebound from its biggest slump in a generation is starting to ease the pressure on the major producers, declining refining profits have hampered their recovery. At BP, the partial shutdown of its US Whiting refinery, the company’s largest, in the fourth quarter, hurt sales while the expense of the turnaround drove up costs. Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron also missed earnings estimates for the period.

BP’s oil and gas production totalled 2.19 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter, down 5.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to a statement. The company’s shares have fallen 6.5 per cent in London this year, compared with a 3.1 per cent decline for Shell’s B shares and a 3.3 per cent drop at Total SA. BP rose 44 per cent last year, the first annual gain in three.

Bloomberg