LONDON (AP) — Declining oil prices and mounting safety spending sent BP PLC’s fourth-quarter profit down 22 percent to a two-year low, the oil company said yesterday.Following a series of high-profile mishaps including a deadly refinery blast in Texas and an oil spill in Alaska, BP also slashed its growth targets and raised its capital expenditure forecast for this year.

BP said adjusted net profit dropped to $2.88 billion, from $3.69 billion a year ago. Adjusted net profit measures earnings before extraordinary items and excluding changes in the value of inventories.

Revenue for the fourth quarter, including asset disposals, fell 1.6 percent to $62.8 billion.

Over the full year, adjusted net profit fell 1.3 percent to $22 billion, from $22.3 billion in 2005. Revenue rose 11.7 percent to $274.3 billion, from $245.5 billion.

BP was the last of the major oil companies to report earnings.

Oil companies has been recently stung by a steady decline in crude oil prices, which have plunged more than $20 per barrel from their peak reached last summer. Chevron Corp. on Friday reported its first quarterly profit decline in more than a year, but the second largest oil company in the U.S. still ended up with its third consecutive year of record earnings.

Last year’s combined earnings of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP exceed $142 billion — enough to buy about 175 gallons of mid-grade gasoline for every person in the US. The combined profit also surpasses the gross domestic product of Iraq and more than 160 other countries, according to the most recent CIA estimates.

BP’s increased safety spending follows criticism of its operating standards after a fatal explosion at its Texas City refinery in 2005 and an oil spill in an Alaskan pipeline.

“The fourth-quarter result reflects the recent declines in the overall price and margin environment, as well as operational factors and increased safety and integrity investments,” said outgoing chief executive John Browne.

“We remain committed to addressing the recent operational issues while executing our strategy with discipline and focus.”

BP announced last month that Browne, whose ability to stay in control of the company had been the subject of intense speculation, would resign at the end of July — bringing his expected departure forward by more than a year.

Browne will be succeeded by Tony Hayward, the current head of exploration and production, who oversaw BP’s expansion trail into the United States, involving a number of take-overs, including the 1998 merger with Amoco and the subsequent acquisitions of Arco and Castrol. Andy Inglis, a veteran of the company’s upstream business, will take Hayward’s job.