The UK oil giant BP reported profits of $3.2bn (£2.4bn) for the first three months of 2026. This figure is well above the $2.7bn forecast by analysts and more than double the $1.38bn it made in the first three months of 2025.
The improved figures reflect the strong performance of its refining and trading division, where profits rose sharply to $2.2bn from $469mn in the same three months of 2025.
The US-Israel conflict with Iran, which began on 28th February, has led to a significant increase in oil prices. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, is currently trading at about $110 a barrel, up from around $73 before the conflict began. At the beginning of the year Brent was trading below $60 a barrel and has been as high as $119 during the conflict.
According to the Financial Times, “Traders typically benefit from volatility because sharp price swings create larger spreads between buyers and sellers, more opportunities for arbitrage and demand for hedging from customers such as utilities and airlines.”
The results are the first under BP’s new chief executive, Meg O’Neill, who took over at the beginning of April.
However, BP said its upstream production, which refers to the search and extraction of oil and gas, had been flat in the first three months of the year.
It also expected production in the second quarter to be lower, partly due to the “effects of disruption in the Middle East”. BP’s production facilities in Abu Dhabi, Iraq, and Oman account for around 17% of its total output. However, most of BP’s production is in North America, meaning it can benefit from higher prices, whilst the vast majority of its production is not affected by the conflict in the Middle East.
Energy firms operating in the UK are subject to a windfall tax that was introduced in 2022 as a response to soaring profits following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, the levy applies only to profits from the extraction of UK oil and gas. BP has said its UK businesses account for less than 10% of its global profits.
Greedy f***ing Bar Stewards 🤬
Of course they did, prices went up whilst the tankers were still weeks away in transit. Government encourage this as it receives more in taxation, for doing absolutely nothing to ease the problems caused by governments.
And just how much revenue is the government making. So they won’t do anything. They probably have shares.
No Buming wonder when they put up petrol &Deasel on their forecourts before they had to buy any more oil, but then again so did every other company the b××××××s.
They should be ashamed profits like that while the general public on an average wage struggle to keep their cars running to get to work it’s disgusting