London - Oil giant British Petroleum (BP) Tuesday reported a 62-per-cent slide in profits in the first quarter of 2009 after oil prices slumped from last summer's record levels.

The decline to 1.64 billion pounds (2.39 billion dollars) in the first three months of this year came as global oil prices dived below 50 US dollars a barrel, compared with the peak of 147 dollars last July.

BP, which last year reported record annual profits of 18.1 billion pounds, said profits more than halved at its exploration and production division. (dpa)