Oil companies' profitability fell last year as rising costs eroded gains from the rise in oil prices, an industry study has found.

The companies' return on capital from their oil and gas production fell to 19 per cent, 3.5 percentage points lower than in 2006, according to the study from IHS Herold, a research firm, and Harrison Lovegrove, a corporate finance firm owned by Standard Chartered bank.

Read the full story here: Rising costs erode oil industry’s profits