BP Beats Q3 Profit Expectations, Sees Further Spending Cuts

British Oil and Gas company BP PLC said it would cut spending and expand its ongoing asset sale Tuesday, as third-quarter earnings dipped by 40 percent due to an extended period of low oil prices.

The oil producer, however, reported better-than-expected net profit of $1.8 billion, compared with analysts' consensus of $1.2 billion, according to Reuters. The company also paid $426 million during the quarter as part of its $18.7 billion settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The London-based company lowered its full-year spending forecast to less than $20 billion from $23 billion last year. BP said it would further lower its spending to $17 billion to $19 billion by 2017.

Oil companies have been aggressively cutting spending and operating costs over the past year as lower oil prices have dried up cash flows.

Benchmark Brent oil prices averaged $50 a barrel in the third quarter of 2015, down from $61.9 a barrel from the previous quarter and $101.9 a barrel a year earlier, according to BP.

The company, which has divested about $45 billion in assets since 2010, also announced additional divestments of $3 billion to $5 billion in 2016.

“Last year, we acted decisively to reset BP for a sustained period of lower oil prices and the results are coming through well,” CEO Bob Dudley said, referring to the continued price slump. “We are now in action to rebalance our financial framework in this new price environment.”