He added that even without new oil and gas finds, BP's asset base could support production of 4 million barrels per day to 2020.

However, Europe's second-largest fully publicly traded oil company by market value said it was taking a new approach to its Alternative Energy, which invests in wind and solar power and fuels made from crops, and hinted at a part sale.

Hayward's predecessor, John Browne, saw renewable energy as core to BP's operations and image -- and highlighted this in the "Beyond Petroleum" branding BP spent tens of millions of dollars advertising.

The London-based oil major now sees its alternative energy unit as simply a portfolio of investments and division head, Vivienne Cox, said its businesses would now face deadlines for delivering profits.

A spokesman said the unit or its constituents could be floated or parts sold. Nothing is on the cards currently, but this may change in the coming year, Hayward said.

"Taking stock market valuations for similar companies, we estimate it is already worth between $5 billion and $7 billion," Hayward told the investors meeting in London.

"What we will be doing over the course of the year will be looking at ways of realising that value for shareholders because none of us believe that there is very much of that, if anything, in our share price today," he added.

The spokesman denied the shift represented a lessening in BP's commitment to renewable energy.

Environmental campaigners always dismissed the "Beyond Petroleum" campaign and said BP's much advertised investments in green energy, which represented about 1 percent of the company's total capital expenditure in recent years, was simply a token.

The London-based company was formerly known as British Petroleum.

Tony Hayward said that since his appointment, he had reviewed the business in detail to identify and remedy flaws which in recent years led to delays on big projects, pipeline leaks in Alaska and fatal accidents at US refineries.

"We have made significant progress at BP over the past 10 months, quietly and without fuss," Hayward said.

In its refining division, BP said its underperformance compared to rivals meant it was earning $3.5 billion-$4 billion less per year than it should.

The company aims to reduce this by nearly half by end-2009 with most of the remainder of the shortfall slated to be made up in 2010-2011.

BP's shares closed 0.88 percent lower at 561-1/2 pence, underperforming a 0.49 percent drop in the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index.