BP saw a slide in underlying replacement cost profits – profits adjusted for the effect of fluctuating oil prices on divestments – for the third quarter of this year, compared with the same three months in 2012.

It made profits of $3.7 billion for the third quarter of 2013 which is more than the $2.7 billion the firm made in the last quarter.

Announcing the figures this week, the British oil giant said its profits were significantly less than the $5 billion it made in the same period last year.

BP also said it had now spent $42.5 billion dealing with the aftermath of the 2011 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.