bp results: £6.9 billion profit and shares dividend up 10%

The oil giant - which is planning gamechanging projects on Teesside including a gas-fired power station with carbon capture as well as one plant producing green hydrogen and another producing blue hydrogen - reported underlying replacement cost profits jumping to a far better-than-expected $8.5 billion (£6.9 billion) for the three months to June 30, up from $2.8 billion (£2.3 billion) a year ago.

bp delivered cheer to investors, with a 10% rise in the dividend shareholder payout and by ramping up its share buyback plan with another $3.5 billion(£2.9 billion) due before the end of September.

Read more: How hundreds of firms will help bp build 'amazing' new Teesside power plant

The result comes as anger rises over households struggling to meet rocketing bills - and bp also warned that there is not expected to be any let up with energy prices over the summer, forecasting that crude oil and gas prices will remain high over the third quarter due to supply disruption from Russia.

Households across Britain have been warned they could face an annual energy bill of £3,615 this winter in the latest grim analysis by energy consultant Cornwall Insight.

Joshua Warner, market analyst at City Index, said it was a “recipe that should continue to deliver bumper earnings for bp and other oil and gas giants”.

Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg

The Government is introducing a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies, but it has faced criticism for giving strong incentives to allow companies to invest in oil and gas, while there are no tax incentives in the policy for green investment.

Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told LBC radio: “I’m not in favour of windfall taxes. The energy industry is enormously cyclical. You need to have a profitable oil sector so it can invest in extracting energy.”

bp’s reported half-year figures were impacted by a massive $24.4 billion (£19.9 billion) hit from the firm’s move to ditch its near-20% stake in Russian oil producer Rosneft in response to the Ukraine war.

This left it with statutory replacement cost losses of 15.4 billion US dollars (£13 billion), against profits of $5.7 billion (£4.7 billion) a year earlier.

Chief executive Bernard Looney insisted the group was continuing to “perform while transforming”.

He said: “Our people have continued to work hard throughout the quarter helping to solve the energy trilemma – secure, affordable and lower carbon energy.

“We do this by providing the oil and gas the world needs today – while at the same time, investing to accelerate the energy transition.”

Read next:

• Two years on, Mayor Ben Houchen looks at future of Teesworks
• Energy giant bp joins Northern Echo's Level Up campaign
• bp head outlines key projects that could transform Teesside