BP profit more than doubles thanks to soaring oil and gas prices

Energy Oil & Gas Written by: Oliver Haill 07:40 Tue 04 Aug 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Oliver Haill Oliver has been writing about companies and markets since the early 2000s, cutting his teeth as a financial journalist at Growth Company Investor with a focusing on AIM companies and small caps, before a few years later becoming a section editor and then head of research. He joined Proactive after a couple of years freelancing, where he worked for the Financial Times Group, ITV, Press Association, Reuters sports desk, the London Olympic News Service, Rugby World Cup News Service, Gracenote... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. BP PLC ( LSE:BP. ) View Price & Profile BP profit more than doubles thanks to soaring oil and gas prices Published: 07:40 04 Aug 2026 BST BP PLC (LSE:BP.) more than doubled second-quarter profits as higher oil and gas prices and stronger refining margins offset lower production and increased exploration write-offs. Underlying replacement cost profit rose to $5.7 billion from $2.4 billion a year earlier and $3.2 billion in the first quarter. Reported profit attributable to shareholders increased to $3.9 billion from $1.6 billion. Operating cash flow climbed 73% year on year to $10.9 billion, despite a $1 billion working capital build. Net debt was cut to $22.3 billion from $25.3 billion at the end of March, slightly exceeding guidance. The improvement reflected higher commodity prices, stronger fuel margins and significantly better refining margins. The oil trading result was also slightly stronger than in the previous quarter. However, production declined to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day from 2.3 million in the first quarter, while upstream plant reliability fell to 92.4% from 95.7%. Refinery throughput also decreased due to planned maintenance and disruptions. BP announced a 4% increase in its quarterly dividend to 8.66 cents per share. It also launched a process to sell its North Sea business and its US biogas business, as part of a wider effort to simplify its portfolio and strengthen the balance sheet. Chief executive Meg O’Neill, delivering her first full-quarter results, acknowledged that BP had "not delivered consistently" and was "not making the most of our potential". "Our performance over the past few years has not met our own expectations, let alone those of our shareholders. We have not delivered consistently; we have written off too much value; and our costs and liabilities are not resilient enough in a low price environment." She set out five priorities – debt reduction, portfolio simplification, investment discipline, operational performance and accountability – designed "to deliver a step change in performance and grow shareholder value". Continue reading