BP is the latest energy firm to report lower profits and say it will spend less on exploration because of falling oil prices.<br /><br /> Full year profit was 10 percent lower at just over $12 billion (10.5 billion euros). Its underlying profits in the final three months of the year were down 20 percent on a year earlier at $2.2 billion (1.92 billion euros).<br /><br /> But a surprise $470 million (411 million euros) contribution from its stake in Russia’s Rosneft helped it produce better than expected results.<br /><br /> Profits specifically from oil production were down 42 percent and chief executive Bob Dudley said the firm had entered a “challenging phase”. <br /><br /> Clean-up costs from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster are still an issue; BP has so far spend $43.5 billion (38 billion euros). <br /><br /> BP has already announced plans to axe thousands of jobs by the end of the year as part of a huge restructuring program.<br /><br /> It also wrote down $3.6 billion (3.15 billion euros) of assets to reflect the lower value of its operati
