A BP gas station in Madrid, Spain.
Pictures of Sopa | Lightrocket | beautiful pictures
LONDON – The UK’s giant oil company BP Tuesday reported bountiful second-quarter profit, benefiting from a rise in commodity prices.
The major British energy group posted a basic replacement cost profit for the second quarter, used as a proxy for net profit, of $8.5 billion.
Compared to the profit of 6.2 billion dollars in the first three months of the year and 2.8 billion dollars for the second quarter of 2021. Analysts expect BP to report a first-quarter profit of $6.3 billion, according to Refinitiv.
BP also announced Tuesday a 10% increase in its quarterly dividend payout to shareholders, bringing it to 6,006 cents per common share.
Shares of BP are up nearly 20% so far.
BP’s results once again highlight the stark contrast between Big Oil’s profits and those grappling with a deepening cost of living crisis.
The world’s biggest oil and gas companies have broken profit records in recent months, after commodity prices skyrocketed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For many fossil fuel companies, the immediate priority is returning cash to shareholders through buyback programs.
Last week, BP’s UK rival Cover report record second-quarter results of $11.5 billion and announce a $6 billion share buyback program, while owner British Gas Centrica restored its dividend after a strong first half profit surge.
Cost of living crisis
Environmental campaigners and union groups have condemned Big Oil’s soaring profits and called on the UK government to adopt meaningful measures to reduce the cost of rising energy bills.
Last month, a group of UK cross-party lawmakers appeal to the government to increase support levels to help households pay their rising energy bills and to draw up a nationwide plan to insulate homes.
The price cap on the most widely used consumer energy tariff is expected to rise by more than 60% in October as gas prices soar, bringing the average annual dual fuel bill to households. family to more than £3,200 ($3,845).
Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action has warning that if this happens it will push 8.2 million homes – or a third of homes in the UK – into energy poverty. Fuel or energy poverty is a situation where a household cannot afford to heat their home to the proper temperature.
“Clearly not everyone is struggling with the energy crisis,” said Sana Yusuf, energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “These bumper profits will be greeted with skepticism by millions of people across the UK who are faced with rising energy prices.”
Yusuf called on the UK government to impose tougher income tax on energy companies. “Much of this profit should be used to insulate our homes and help underfunded households pay for their heating this winter, rather than developing more fuel projects.” fossils burn the planet,” Yusuf said.
The burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and gas, is a major cause of the climate crisis, and researchers have discovered traces of fossil fuel production. “dangerously out of sync” with global climate goals.
Speaking in June, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the abandonment of fossil fuel finance, describing the new source of funding for fossil fuel exploration as “illusion. “
