LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Oil major BP has reducedits full-year capital expenditure (capex) for the third timethis year as it grapples with a halving in oil prices.
BP said on Tuesday that investments for this year would nowcome in at close to $19 billion, down from a previous estimateof under $20 billion, and capex would fall to $17-19 billion ayear through to 2017.
The oil producer reported better-than-expected third-quarterunderlying replacement cost profit, the company's definition ofnet income, of $1.8 billion, compared with analysts' consensusof $1.2 billion.
"All of this underpins our strong priority of sustaining ourdividend and then growing free cash flow and shareholderdistributions over the long term," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudleysaid in a statement. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps and Ron Bousso; Editing by SusanFenton)