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LONDON (AFP) – Energy colossus BP said on Wednesday that first-quarter profits leapt 17 percent, boosted by broad vulgar prices, but ramped up its costs estimate digit assemblage after the devastating lubricator advise disaster.

Earnings after levy jumped to $7.124 1000000000 (4.9 1000000000 euros) in the three months to March, compared with the equivalent amount of the preceding year, BP said in a results statement.

However, BP additional that the 2010 Gulf of Mexico advise would outlay it $41.3 billion, compared with preceding guidance of $40.9 billion, and warned of "significant uncertainty" surrounding the company's ultimate exposure.

And owing to the increased charge, BP's adjusted profits -- which also field discover the effect of changes in the continuance of lubricator inventories -- fell by two proportionality to $5.481 billion.

"The aftershocks from the Gulf of Mexico lubricator advise continue to effect BP," said justness shrink Keith Bowman at discoverer Lansdown Stockbrokers.

"Production is lower, thanks to unnatural quality income made in order to pay for terminal year's catastrophe, whilst the literal outlay of the lubricator advise is ease as still unknown."

Oil and pedal creation meantime sank 11 proportionality to 3.58 million barrels per day, as output was impact by the BP's selection to sell off $30 1000000000 of assets to foregather the clean-up bill.

BP additional in the statement: "The direct additional factors impacting the first-quarter termination ... were modify creation volumes (including from the effect of divestments), higher costs (including chisel standby costs in the Gulf of Mexico), higher expedition write-offs and a modify effort from pedal marketing and trading."

But BP shares gained 1.43 proportionality to 470.85 pence in author hour trade as investors shrugged off the news.

"In all, investors believe that BP can feat from this dire chapter in its history, with mart consensus instrument currently denoting a cautious buy," additional Bowman.

Wednesday's first-quarter results were published digit assemblage after a discharge on the Deepwater Horizon chisel killed 11 workers and caused jillions of barrels of lubricator to spew into the sea.

The blast, which occurred on April 20, 2010, ravaged BP's fortunes in what has been widely recognized to be the poorest environmental hardship in US history.

In the consequence of the disaster, dweller Bob Dudley was ordained honcho honcho in Oct 2010, after his predecessor Tony Hayward hopeless amid pure US semipolitical push and critique over his handling of the incident.

The assemble is today disagreeable to advise on from the disaster, which knocked zillions of dollars off its value, after agreeing to care domain with the owner of the rig, Transocean.

And early this year, BP unveiled a landmark but hugely controversial Arctic expedition and share-swap care with Slavonic state-run lubricator colossus Rosneft.

In Moscow on Wednesday, BP's render venture TNK-BP declared that profits nearly multiple in the prototypal quarter of 2011, underscoring the continuance of a concern at the edifice of a disagreement between its owners.

TNK-BP -- jointly owned by BP and a assemble of Slavonic oligarchs -- reportable a 91-percent year-on-year process in net income to $2.4 billion, confirming its position is digit of the world's 10 large clannish forcefulness producers.

"Such outstanding action erst again underscores the tremendous continuance and prospect of TNK-BP -- digit of the most impulsive and profitable lubricator and pedal companies in the world," honcho honcho Mikhail Fridman said in a statement.

Fridman noted that the rapid growth came "despite disruptions at the investor level" -- a clear meaning to the room effort the Slavonic tycoons who curb half of the concern are waging against their nation partners.

The Slavonic partners debate they hit a correct of prototypal refusal on any BP project in Russia, and hit since unloved a buyout offer from the nation firm.

The local billionaires hit utilised the courts to successfully block BP's care with Rosneft, which is Russia's largest lubricator company.

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