BP to axe 1,500 jobs in UK

British Petroleum is set to axe 1,500 of its 16,000 UK staff under cost-cutting plans announced in the wake of a huge plunge in profits.

The world's third-largest oil company is looking to cull 5,000 of its 97,000 employees worldwide by the middle of next year.

BP confirmed the plans after the company posted a 22 per cent fall in profits to £8.76 billion, thought to be partly due to an unexpectedly high tax charge because of higher oil prices.

It left chief executive Tony Hayward determined to "close the performance gap" with its rivals after a difficult year for the company.

But he said he was confident of cutting corporate overheads by up to 20 per cent, potentially saving up to £762 million a year.

Most of the UK job losses will be felt at BP's administrative bases in London and Sunbury upon Thames, Surrey.

Although 300 jobs will go under previously announced cuts at its North Sea operations headquarters in Aberdeen.

The latest cuts - expected to cost BP £686 million in restructuring charges - come after BP took 9,500 people off the payroll by selling its US retail business to franchisees late last year.

Its fortunes contrast with rival Royal Dutch Shell, which last week posted record profits of almost £14 billion.

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