SOARING oil prices have helped BP achieve record first-quarter profits.

The UK's biggest company made £2.64bn in the first three months of the year - equivalent to £335 a second and up 17 per cent on the same period the year before.

The figures were revealed as the company predicted that oil prices would remain at levels not seen since the Gulf War.

BP said the price of crude was likely to stay above $32 a barrel until June because of low inventories, a tight US gasoline market and concerns about possible disruptions to supply.

While the outlook was greeted positively by investors, it will mean further misery for UK motorists, who are already paying the highest price at the pumps for a litre of unleaded petrol in nearly a year.

Only the weakness of the US dollar was cushioning the impact of the higher cost of crude on prices at the pumps, according to Investec oil expert Bruce Evers.

Lord Browne, BP chief executive, said fuel prices could fall later in the year if the supply of crude was not carefully managed by oil cartel Opec.

"A rebuilding of inventories closer to seasonal norms looks likely if Opec does not make production cuts that more closely match the seasonal drop in oil product demand," he said.

BP also unveiled plans to sell half its petrochemicals business, possibly via a stock market listing in the second half of next year.

About 1,000 staff are employed in the the Olefins and Derivatives division in the UK, mainly at Grangemouth, in Scotland, and 7,500 worldwide in countries that include the US and Germany.

BP said strong demand in Asia was a key reason for maintaining control of its aromatics and acetyls businesses, which has a production base in Hull.