Oil giant BP announces huge rise in profits in first results since Iran war

The oil and gas producing giant BP has recorded a more than doubling of profits as it benefits from high prices from the Iran war.

Benchmark oil prices have soared since early March as attacks led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) flowed.

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BP has been a big beneficiary; its results for the first three months of its financial year show its underlying profits hit $3.198bn (£2.366bn).

It's even better than the doubling to $2.7bn (£1.99bn) that analysts had expected.

A year earlier, that profit measure had been $1.381bn (£1.021bn).

BP was explicit about the contribution of higher oil prices. The profit "reflects exceptional oil trading", it said.

Well placed to benefit

Oil has consistently cost more than $100 a barrel since the outbreak of war but only one month of higher prices featured in the results released on Tuesday.

It made such high profits during the three months, on oil averaging $82.80 a barrel for the benchmark Brent crude.

That means it hasn't yet fully benefited from more expensive oil and that profits are likely to rise yet further.

At the same time, BP hasn't been badly hit by war in the Middle East; most of its production is in North America, meaning it can benefit from higher prices while experiencing minimal disruption.

It did say, however, that production volumes and fuel margins "remain sensitive to conditions and developments in the Middle East".

Its share price is up 2.5% on Tuesday morning.

The longer oil prices remain elevated, the worse the cost of living impact is going to be on households and businesses. The energy price cap is widely expected to rise by hundreds of pounds for a typical home in July.

What about tax?

Fossil fuel producers are still subject to a windfall tax called the energy profits levy, imposed in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after which some companies had record profits.

This was reflected in the fact BP paid a headline tax rate of 78% on its taxable profits from its North Sea business.

Overall though, BP said its effective tax rate was lower this year than last.

Its effective tax rate on profits was 43%, compared with 69% for the same period in 2025.

Reaction

Environmental groups have reacted angrily to the results

"The oil industry's capacity to profiteer from human misery is almost limitless," said Greenpeace climate campaigner Maja Darlington.

Oil companies, "destroy the climate, push up the cost of living, and rake in billions in profit while innocent civilians die", said Patrick Galey, the head of news investigations at NGO Global Witness.

"It's well overdue that we make oil companies pay for the damage they're doing. If they broke it, they need to fix it. It's clear they can afford to."

(c) Sky News 2026: Oil giant BP announces huge rise in profits in first results since Iran war