OIL group BP disappointed investors yesterday as its record profits haul came in well short of the £1.5m an hour seen by rival Royal Dutch Shell.

The surging price of crude oil sent BP's 2005 profits up by a quarter to £11.04bn but it fell below forecasts as BP took on a number of accounting charges and continued to feel the impact from hurricane damage and a fire at a refinery in the US.

Last week, Royal Dutch Shell set an all-time high for a UK company when it posted profits on an equivalent measure of £12.93bn.

But while Shell only managed to replace between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the fuel it pumped out of the ground in 2005, BP replaced 100 per cent - for the 13th year in a row.

Shares in BP fell three per cent yesterday as the company's fourth quarter profits - up 26 per cent to £2.53bn - were hit by a £316.4m non-cash charge relating to North Sea gas contracts, and a one-off accounting charge of £259.7m.

But yesterday's figures renewed calls from Friends of the Earth for a windfall tax, while the TGWU said some of the surplus should be used to tackle the UK pensions crisis.

However, chief executive Lord Browne denied the allegations of profiteering.

"The real question is where does the money go?" he said. "The money doesn't sit in the company. It is used to invest for the future, but the vast bulk of it is sent back to our shareholders, which are basically the pension funds of the UK.''