BP's profits have taken a 40% hit, forcing the company to roll back spending plans.

In the three months ending in September, it posted profits of $1.8bn, down from $3bn during the same period last year.

The knock-on effect has been a drastic reduction in capital spending - the Guardian reports that BP expects to spend $19bn on projects this year, down from $26bn in 2014. 

The oil price collapse has seen North Sea Brent blend averaging $50 in the last quarter, down around 50% in a year.

BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley attempted to cool shareholders' fears that continued low oil prices would force a reduction in dividends.

He said the company was determined to maintain the current rate of 10c a share:

“Last year, we acted decisively to reset BP for a sustained period of lower oil prices and the results are coming through well. We are now in action to rebalance our financial framework in this new price environment. This underpins our strong priority of sustaining our dividend and then growing free cash flow and shareholder distributions over the long term.”

The International Energy Agency predicts oil prices to remain low throughout 2016 - due to a combination of increased domestic supply in the US, flagging energy demand in China, higher OPEC output and a reduction in economic growth worldwide.