BP profits soar
Oil giant BP today soared to mammoth third-quarter profits of $10bn (€8bn) as the firm reaped the benefits of record prices.
The company’s huge haul for the July-September period is a whopping 148% above the same period last year.
Its profits came as crude oil prices hit a new peak above $147 a barrel in mid-July.
The profits are likely to spark fresh protests from motorists and businesses who have felt the pain at the petrol pump this year.
Oil prices have since fallen by more than half their July peak to just above $60 a barrel as global recession fears mount, despite moves by oil cartel Opec to cut production.
BP chief executive Tony Hayward said: “Although it has since fallen away sharply, the high oil price of the third quarter obviously helped our absolute result.”
The company averaged a selling price of more than $111 a barrel, compared to just $71 in the same period last year.
Stripping out exceptional gains, BP’s underlying “clean” profits of $8.9bn (€7.1bn) shattered City expectations.
Despite the boost from record oil prices, Mr Hayward maintained that BP had also benefited from an improved operating performance.
Increasing production from major projects more than offset the impact of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico during a period in which BP produced 3.66 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, up 5% on an underlying basis year-on-year.
