BP said first-quarter profit more than doubled to $3.2 billion as its oil trading business delivered an exceptional performance, lifting Bp Stock 3% on Tuesday. The company reported profit of $1.38 billion in the same period last year.
The strongest gain came in BP's customers and products division, where profit surged to $2.5 billion from $103 million a year earlier. That business includes BP's oil trading unit, which benefited from the sharp swings in crude prices since the Iran war began.
Meg O'Neill, who took over as BP's chief executive at the beginning of April, said the company was operating “at a time when our industry is operating in an environment of conflict and complexity” and said it was “working with customers and governments to get fuel where it's needed, helping minimize disruption.” Her first results came as Brent crude, which was around $73 a barrel before the conflict, climbed to nearly $120 a barrel at one point before slipping below $100 and later settling at about $110.
The results were the first under O'Neill and showed how much BP's trading arm has been helped by volatility, while the rest of the business was less dynamic. Susannah Streeter said the division had “clearly thrived in an environment of wild swings, leading to high velocity trading,” but added it was “not immune to the damage and destruction wreaked on facilities across the Gulf.”
BP said upstream production was flat, but it expects output between April and June to be lower partly because of disruption in the Middle East. Charles Hall said BP was being cautious about the second quarter and said the disruption was “probably going to last a little bit longer,” adding: “There are other things going on and obviously it's a pretty uncertain world at the moment.”
The market has already priced in some of the turmoil. BP's share price is up about 20% since the Iran war began, even as the company warned that the Strait of Hormuz, which usually carries about 20% of global oil and liquid natural gas supplies and has been effectively closed, remains a major source of risk. For BP, the latest numbers show a business making money from upheaval while still navigating the damage that upheaval can bring.