BP has reported a slip in profits for the first quarter of 2012. It made $4.8 billion in replacement cost profit – adjusted for non-operating items and fair value accounting effects – compared to $5 billion in the previous quarter.

The company’s reported that the quarter’s result was impacted adversely by a $541 million consolidation adjustment in respect of unrealised profits in inventory held within the downstream business.

The company also said that it was making good progress towards the operational milestones it expected to meet in 2012 – advancing the development of major new projects, continuing to gain promising new exploration access, and continuing its $38 billion divestment programme.

Group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “We have made a good start against our strategic priorities for 2012. During the quarter we gained access to significant new deepwater and US shale exploration acreage, our ongoing divestment programme has reached $23 billion, and we have five deepwater rigs at work in the Gulf of Mexico. This operational progress will underpin the financial momentum we expect to come through as we move into 2013 and 2014.”