British oil major BP on Tuesday reported a 62-percent slide in first-quarter net profits to $2.387-billion, as the price of crude halved.

The data excludes changes in the value of oil held in stock, a key measure for the industry, and compared to net profit totalling $6.231-billion in the first quarter of 2008.

Production for the quarter rose 2.6 percent to 4.016 billion barrels, which includes gas calculated in equivalent terms of oil barrels, compared to a year earlier, BP added in an earnings statement.

BP saw its profits plunge as the price of crude oil tumbled from more than $100 a barrel in the first quarter of 2008 to below $50 a year later as the global economic slump sharply reduced demand for energy.

BP on Tuesday said group sales slumped by 46 percent to $47.296-billion in the first quarter.

AFP