BP is to cut another 3,000 jobs after reporting a loss of £3.6 billion, its worst annual loss in at least 20 years.

The latest job cuts are in addition to the 4,000 job cuts already announced.

Shares in the group fell by more than 5 per cent as the results underlined the impact of falling oil prices.

The firm revealed losses of £1.5 billion for the fourth quarter alone after its upstream business - exploration, drilling and well operations - suffered in the face of the tumbling cost of crude.

On an underlying basis, replacement cost profits tumbled by 51 per cent to £4.1 billion in 2015.

BP's annual loss compared with profits of £5.6 billion in 2014 and came as it also took another £8.3 billion hit for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

In the fourth quarter, BP said underlying replacement cost profits dropped to £136m from £1.5 billion a year earlier after its upstream business saw losses of £506m.

The group added that hefty restructuring charges of £313m also pushed the group into the red at the end of the year.

The cost of crude slumped below 28 US dollars a barrel at one stage last month and has collapsed by more than 70 per cent since a peak of around 115 US dollars a barrel in the summer of 2014.

But despite the losses, BP - a mainstay of UK pension funds - announced that dividend payouts would remain unchanged at 10 cents a share for the fourth quarter.

Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said: "We are continuing to move rapidly to adapt and rebalance BP for the changing environment.

"We're making good progress in managing and lowering our costs and capital spending, while maintaining safe and reliable operations."

The group added that oil prices are expected to remain "challenging".