Azernews.Az

BAKU – Oil giant BP has announced a return to profit in the three months to September after last quarter`s record loss.

The firm said its replacement cost profit for the period was $1.85bn (£1.15bn), as against the $17bn loss recorded from April to June.

The previous loss reflected the massive costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis, which followed an explosion on a drilling rig in April.

BP said the cost of the oil spill had now risen by $7.7bn to $39.9bn.

Bob Dudley, who led the clean-up, became BP`s chief executive last month.

He replaced Tony Hayward, who was criticised for his leadership during the crisis.

BP said the $39.9bn cost of the oil spill included $20bn set aside under pressure from the US government for compensation payments.

Eleven workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig were killed by the explosion on 20 April and hundreds of miles of coast were polluted.

The well was finally capped on 15 July, after an estimated 4.9m barrels of oil (171m gallons) had leaked into the sea, and fully sealed in September.