BP Announces Lower 4th Quarter Earnings

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with a slip for BP.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The British oil company, BP, announced its 4th quarter earnings today, and its net profit was about a billion dollars lower than a year earlier. BP has been shrinking as assets have been sold off to pay for its liabilities tied to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

MONTAGNE: Billions more could flow out of the company this year. A civil penalties trial is due to begin in New Orleans later this month. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.