BP first-quarter profit doubles, topping expectations by 20%, on Iran war oil trading

ShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountBP’s BP-N first-quarter profit more than doubled year-on-year to US$3.2-billion – its highest since 2023 – the British oil major reported on Tuesday, beating expectations by 20 per cent after the Iran war boosted its oil trading results.The spike in oil prices triggered by the war has helped European majors reap billions of dollars from the energy supply crunch. BP had already flagged an exceptionally strong quarter for its oil trading desk. Its customers and products business, which includes oil trading operations, recorded profit before interest and tax of US$3.2-billion, its highest level since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, beating an average analyst estimate of US$2.5-billion.Results at BP’s gas and low carbon and oil production and operations units, meanwhile, came in slightly below expectations.European oil majors outshine U.S. rivals by trading on energy volatility during Iran warThe company reported underlying replacement cost profit, its version of net income, of US$3.2-billion, exceeding expectations of US$2.67-billion in a company-provided poll of analysts and rising sharply from US$1.38-billion in the same quarter a year earlier.BP said fuel margins are expected to “remain sensitive” to supply costs and conditions in the Middle East, while it expects reported upstream production in 2026 to be lower due to the effects of the conflict. BP said it had exported around 100,000 barrels per day through the now virtually shut Strait of Hormuz from Iraq and Abu Dhabi as well as around 5-10 per cent of its liquefied natural gas portfolio. It was able to keep its overall oil and gas production steady at 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by ratcheting up output in the United States. “We’re controlling what we can control, which is trying to increase production in other parts of the world,” CEO Meg O’Neill said in an interview with Reuters. Tuesday’s results were BP’s first with O’Neill at the helm. She became the company’s fifth chief executive since 2020 in April, tasked with leading its strategic pivot back to oil and gas following an ill-fated foray into renewables. Shares in BP were up 3.1 per cent by 1039 GMT, while a broader index of European energy companies rose 1.6 per cent. (function(t) { t.Hotline = t.Hotline || []; t.Hotline.push({ "id": "n8nv9gwx", "version": "1.3.3", "period": "YTD", "series": [ { "ticker": "BP", "title": "BP Plc ADR", "exchange": "Stocks - NYSE" } ] }); var b = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0]; if (!b.classList.contains("gc-hotline-init")) { b.classList.add("gc-hotline-init"); var c = document.createElement('link'); var j = document.createElement('script'); c.href = 'https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/interactive/hotline/library/1.3.3/hotline.min.css?token=1.3.3-34'; c.rel = 'stylesheet'; j.src = 'https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/interactive/hotline/library/1.3.3/hotline.min.js?token=1.3.3-34'; j.async = true; j.defer = true; document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(c); document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(j); } })(this); ‘Straightforward priorities’BP said it planned to reduce its hybrid bonds by around US$4.3-billion to around US$9-billion. Hybrid bonds blend debt and equity traits. They pay fixed income like bonds but allow issuers to skip payments, making them riskier and more expensive, while often not being counted as debt, helping to protect credit…

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