BP set to announce better profits than Shell, expert predicts

Oil giant BP is set to announce higher fourth-quarter profits than Shell this week.

That is according to a report appearing in the Daily Telegraph, which said that if its forecast proves correct, it will be the first time in 12 months that the firm has announced profits that are superior to its rival.

It is expected that BP will announce that its "clean" earnings for the last three months of 2011 reached $4.87 billion (£3.1 billion).

Recently, rival firm Royal Dutch Shell revealed earnings of $4.85 billion, with the company explaining that it was held back by losses in its refining and marketing division.

But according to Stuart Joyner, an oil analyst at broker Investec, these problems should not blight BP's performance in the same way. He has, therefore, projected earnings of $4.9 billion.

"BP have a lot smaller marketing and refining footprint than Shell so they will be less impacted by the negative numbers we have seen there," Mr Joyner told the news provider.