Oil giant BP has faced criticism after announcing that its profits more than doubled in the second quarter, reaching £4.2 billion, its largest quarterly haul since 2022. The surge comes as the UK experiences drought and households struggle with high energy bills.
Profits driven by Middle East conflict
The company's profit jump of 144% was driven by higher oil and gas prices and strong refining margins, boosted by market volatility from the US-Iran conflict, which has disrupted energy flows and tightened global supplies.
Climate campaigners have slammed the windfall, noting that it comes as large parts of the world battle extreme temperatures. Rosie Downes, Friends of the Earth's head of campaigns, said: "Clearly not everyone is feeling the pain of the energy crisis. While BP banks another round of enormous profits, millions of households are paying the price through sky-high energy bills and a climate crisis accelerating rapidly out of control with increasingly severe heatwaves, wildfires and droughts."
Campaigners call for action
Flossie Boyd, Global Witness senior campaigner, said: "As wildfires ravage Europe, drought bites and the Iran war hikes up fuel prices once again, it's scandalous that the oil giants turbo-charging climate breakdown are cashing in on our misery. This is the second time in four years we've seen oil giants cash in on crisis and it's time to break the cycle."
Greenpeace political campaigner Angharad Hopkinson said: "We've just experienced the driest July on record and BP has driven record-breaking droughts, unprecedented wildfires and extraordinary excess heatwave deaths. To cause this destruction while amassing £4.24billion in profits shows how corporate gains have become entirely divorced from the public good."
North Sea sale and CEO comments
BP last week put its North Sea business up for sale, a move that would end 60 years of production in the region. CEO Meg O'Neill, who is in line for a potential £13.7 million payout this year, defended the decision, saying the North Sea "doesn't compete for capital" in BP's portfolio. She expressed optimism that other players interested in the basin would continue to profit from the assets.
O'Neill also revealed she had spoken with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who reinforced his desire to work closely with business. She noted that the UK gets 75% of its energy from fossil fuels today, and argued that the first barrel of oil and molecule of natural gas should come from the UK North Sea to generate jobs, tax revenue, and other positive impacts.
