Energy giant BP has been criticised after revealing profits nearly quadrupled to a record £6.3 billion in the past three months alone. The bonanza, driven by the fallout from Donald Trump's war with Iran, came a day after rival Shell announced an £8.2 billion haul.
BP's quarterly profits smashed analysts' forecasts and came on the back of sky-high wholesale oil and gas prices that, while delivering a windfall for producers, is causing misery for households through soaring energy and fuel bills.
Campaigners hit out at 'obscene' profits
Tessa Khan, executive director of the anti-fossil fuel group Uplift, said: “It’s galling that millions of people across the UK will be worrying about how to stay warm this winter, thanks to soaring oil and gas prices, while these companies are laughing all the way to the bank.”
Campaign group Global Witness claimed BP's bumper profits take the total from Europe's six biggest oil firms to £66.4 billion so far in 2026. Yet while the companies rake it in, households are reeling from an energy shock caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Impact on households and motorists
In the UK, motorists are feeling the impact every time they fill up, with diesel prices at a near record high and petrol also punishingly expensive. Energy bills have also shot up, with charities fearful of what will happen when prices rocket by a forecast 27% - almost £470 a year - in January.
Chancellor John Healey used this week's Budget to provide help through £100 for 20 million households in January, and delaying a planned rise in fuel duty. He resisted calls for oil firms to be landed with a new windfall tax.
BP's financial results and CEO pay
BP's profits jumped to £6.31 billion in the three months to the end of September, up from £1.65 billion a year ago. It has made £13 billion in the first nine months of the year.
Boss Meg O'Neill - who is in line for a potential £13.7 million payout this year - said the firm's refineries have been “running close to capacity” to help keep oil supplies flowing as the Middle East conflict has caused massive disruption to energy and fuel markets worldwide, with the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route remaining closed.
The American, who became BP's CEO in April, spent 23 years at US energy firm ExxonMobil. She is already guaranteed a £1.6 million salary and nearly £500,000 towards her pension. But that could be turbo-charged by a maximum £3.6 million annual bonus and a potential £8 million long-term reward scheme for this year alone.
Reactions from campaign groups
Jonathan Noronha-Gant, from Global Witness, said: “It is obscene that polluters are continuing to cash in on the fallout of the war in Iran, making more bumper profits from spiralling oil prices while innocent civilians suffer. These massive profits come as ordinary people across Europe are struggling with the rising cost of living, with many struggling to afford to heat their homes as winter arrives. Oil giants can and should pay much more for the damage they are doing to our planet.”
Danny Gross, a climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “The Government must make energy affordable for everyone by removing the hidden taxes on electricity bills and forcing the worst climate offenders like BP to pay their fair share for the damage they cause to fund a faster, fairer transition to cheap, clean energy.”
Ms O'Neill said: “These are dynamic times with volatility and disruption to trade flows continuing to define energy markets. The industry as a whole has been showing remarkable adaptability. Refineries have been running close to capacity to make up for shortfalls, shipping has been taking different and longer routes, and releases from strategic and commercial reserves are helping to bridge supply gaps. I’m proud of the contribution BP is making to keep energy flowing.”
Ms Khan said: “If Labour is truly serious about tackling the cost-of-living crisis and reindustrialising regions in decline, it must help us all get off expensive oil and gas by switching to renewables, and making sure that the job of building this new clean energy system goes to workers in this country. Burnham must put affordable energy, reindustrialisation and a safe climate before corporate profits and end the stranglehold that oil and gas firms have over our lives and economy.”
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “As households continue to face the reality of high energy prices this winter, the Government must step in to reform energy markets so they deliver value for consumers and not just returns for shareholders. The best time to deliver a fairer energy system was five years ago when the problems became apparent. The second best time is now so ministers don’t fail again to learn the lessons of the gas and oil price crisis.”
