BP profits lower than expected as oil and gas market eases

Results are company's first since shock exit of its chief executive Bernard Looney last month

BP has reported weaker than expected profits of $3.3bn (2.7bn) for the third quarter of this year amid lower global energy market prices and a slump in its gas trading business.

The company said its profits halved in the three months to September after it made bumper profits of $8.2bn in the same months last year when oil and gas prices soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.