AFP - British energy giant BP said Tuesday its second-quarter net profits slumped 53 percent to 4.39 billion dollars (3.07 billion euros) due to falling oil prices and despite higher output.
   
Stripping out oil inventories held, net profit was also down 53 percent to 3.14 billion dollars in the three months to the end of June, compared with 6.75 billion dollars in the same portion of 2008.
   
For the six months to June, this measure of earnings fell 57 percent to 5.53 billion dollars, BP said in a results statement.
   
Daily production in the second quarter climbed four percent to 4.005 million barrels of oil and gas, due largely to the startup of the 300,000-barrel-per-day Thunder Horse field in the Gulf of Mexico.
   
BP said it has already achieved its goal of cutting costs by 2.0 billion dollars in 2009 -- and expected to slash another 1.0 billion dollars before the end of the year.
   
Chief Executive Tony Hayward said the group was delivering in very tough conditions.
   
"We are in turbulent times, volatile and uncertain. But we continue to steer a steady course through choppy waters," Hayward said.
   
"Despite the current climate, we are making good progress in growing our upstream (operations), turning around our downstream and driving cost-efficiency across the group."
   
Capital spending in the three months to June was 4.8 billion dollars and 9.4 billion dollars for the six month period, and should be less than 20 billion dollars for the full year, according to BP.
   
Hayward said a recovery in global energy demand would be sluggish.
   
"The overall picture is of energy demand now stabilising following significant falls in the first half of the year," Hayward said.
   
"We see little evidence of any growth in demand and expect the recovery to be long and drawn out."