BP trims Alaska oil spending plans on tax overhaul

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 25 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) has shelved a $1 billion Alaska heavy oil project and trimmed a planned boost in 2008 capital spending due in part to the state's recent tax overhaul, company officials said Friday.

BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the company, along with partners Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N), deferred a multiyear $1 billion expansion of its heavy oil project on the western edge of the Prudhoe Bay field.

The company plans an $800 million capital budget in 2008, up nearly 17 percent from 2007 amid a pipeline replacement project but less than what the company would have spent under the old tax regime, BP's head of Alaska exploration, Doug Suttles, said in a speech to an industry group Friday. (Reporting by Yereth Rosen)