Britain's BP reported a more than doubling of its profit on Tuesday as oil giants reap the rewards of soaring energy prices amid the war in Iran.
The London-headquartered company posted a 144% rise in net profit to $5.7 billion in its second quarter compared to the same period of last year, beating analysts' estimates of $5.48 billion, according to the London Stock Exchange Group.
BP's stock rose by about 1.5% in London (UK:BP) and in overnight trading in New York $(BP)$, with shares up almost 30% since the start of the year in both cities.
It comes as oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel first started launching strikes at Iran, leading to extreme disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the transport of energy supplies. Brent crude (BRN00) (BRNV26) has climbed 16% since the conflict began, rising as high as 57% in May. It's currently hovering around the $86 a barrel mark, considerably above its average price of $69.14 a barrel last year.
The company also announced its intention to sell its biogas business in the U.S. BP completed its purchase of Archaea in December 2022 during a time when it was trying to transition to more renewable energy sources. In February 2025, former CEO Murray Auchincloss said the group would be abandoning its climate targets and focusing on more oil and gas production.
Meg O'Neill, who took over as boss of BP in April, outlined five new priorities the company would be taking on in a statement on Tuesday. She said it would work on improving the balance sheet, simplifying the portfolio, investing more competitively, boosting operational efficiency and encouraging greater accountability.
"We are not making the most of our potential," O'Neill said. "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."
RBC analysts led by Biraj Borkhataria said the surge in oil prices has given BP some breathing space to boost performance. "All of these priorities could come under the general bucket of 'do better,' in our minds, and so clearly the devil is in the detail, and BP will need to 'walk the talk' consistently over the coming quarters to re-build investor confidence. That said, ownership of BP's historical failings is a good step forward for the investment case, and we look to the call for more clarity on the financial framework and tangible plans ahead."
Also on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Aramco (SA:2223), the world's biggest oil company, reported a 33% increase in adjusted net income to $33.39 billion.
American oil titan Chevron $(CVX)$ posted a 400% jump in net income to $12 billion and ExxonMobil $(XOM)$ said profits more than doubled to $14.5 billion last week.
President Donald Trump criticized both companies on Monday, accusing them of "making too much money."
"They're making too much money based on a shortage," he told the press at the White House. "I don't like it."
BP said it now expects upstream production of between 2.18 million and 2.27 million barrels of oil per day, down from 2025's figure of 2.31 million barrels.
-Nora Redmond
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