BP (BP.L) has revealed a fall in profits in the face of lower oil prices but will continue to pump money to shareholders as it announced a $1.75bn (£1.39bn) share buyback. The oil major reported an underlying profit of $2.7bn in the first quarter of 2024, below a consensus forecast from analysts of $2.9bn. BP said its earnings had fallen because of lower oil and gas prices compared with the same period last year. The impact of the Whiting refinery outage and a significantly weaker fuels margin also hit earnings. Underlying replacement cost profit — its preferred measure — was $1.6bn in the first quarter, down from $8.7bn a year earlier. The group also saw net debt increase to $24bn from $20.9bn in the fourth quarter of 2023. Looking ahead, BP expects second quarter 2024 reported upstream production to be slightly lower than the first-quarter. The London-listed (^FTSE) company also revealed plans to deliver $2bn in extra in cost savings by 2026. The energy company maintained the pace of its share buyback scheme at $1.75bn for the quarter. Read more: Stocks to watch this week: BP, Saudi Aramco, Uber, and interest rates Kate Thomson, chief financial officer at BP, said:...