BP profit hits 18-year high of $8.46 billion on Middle East war
BP's third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit rose to $8.46 billion from $2.2 billion a year earlier, beating forecasts of $7.33 billion. Refining margins jumped as the Middle East war lifted oil and fuel prices.
BP posted its highest quarterly profit in 18 years on Friday. The war in the Middle East pushed up oil and gas prices and led to "significantly higher" trading, The Guardian reported. Underlying replacement cost profit, a key measure of the company's income, reached $8.46 billion in the three months to the end of September. A year earlier it stood at $2.2 billion. Analysts had expected $7.33 billion. AFP reported that BP's net profit quadrupled on higher oil prices. It was BP's best result since 2008, when it recorded $8.9 billion, according to The Guardian. Refining drove most of the gain. The gap between the cost of crude oil and the price of refined fuels such as diesel and petrol widened sharply. BP earned almost $47 for each barrel produced. Global oil prices have stayed below their 2022 peaks. Pump prices for diesel, however, have hit all-time highs in the UK, Europe and the US. The Guardian links this to severe disruption at refineries in the Gulf region and across Russia. Chief executive Meg O'Neill told Bloomberg TV it was "a banner quarter for the refining business". She said BP-operated…
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