BP's fourth quarter marked another quarter of year-over-year production gains, with a 3% increase thanks to new field startups. BP reported fourth-quarter replacement cost profit of $3.4 billion, up 33% from year-ago earnings of $2.6 billion, as upstream earnings growth was more than enough to offset downstream weakness. For the full year, BP's earnings of $14 billion were 45% below year-ago earnings of $26 billion, in part because of lower oil prices earlier in the year. We're encouraged by BP's sequential earnings gains as new projects and cost-cutting efforts drive upstream results.
For the fourth quarter, exploration and production earnings were $8.5 billion, 79% higher than a year ago and 23% higher than the third quarter. Fourth-quarter oil and gas production of 4,054 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day was 3% higher than year-ago levels. Higher oil prices along with a larger earnings contribution from equity-accounted interests including TNK-BP also contributed to the upstream earnings gain. During the fourth quarter, BP started gas production from the Savonette field offshore and signed contracts with partners to expand production at Iraq's Rumaila field, coalbed methane in Indonesia, and onshore gas in Jordan. BP's exploration efforts also succeeded, with discoveries in deepwater Gulf of Mexico at Tiber and in Block 31 offshore Angola. While long-term production growth goals remain at 1%-2% per year, BP expects 2010 production to be slightly lower than 2009. The firm expects production growth to resume in 2011 on the basis of projects under way and new development contracts signed.
On the downstream side, BP incurred a $1.9 billion loss in the fourth quarter versus earnings of $416 million a year ago. Fourth-quarter 2009 results included a $1.6 billion goodwill-impairment charge for the US West Coast fuels value chain related to BP's 2000 Arco acquisition. Weak trading conditions offset the benefits of operating improvements, where refinery availability averaged 94%. BP expects refining margins to remain depressed into 2010.