BP has this morning announced its Q3 underlying replacement cost profit was $8.5billion (£6.34billion) - almost quadruple the corresponding figure from last year.
The oil giant, which earlier this year announced plans to sell off its North Sea business, secured an underlying RC profit of $2.2billion in Q3 2025, rising to $5.7billion by Q2 this year.
But both figures were dwarfed by the firm's underlying RC profit for Q3 2026 of $8.5billion.
An update issued this morning said the company is "moving at speed" to "simplify" its portfolio, including by marketing its North Sea interests.
Meg O'Neill, Chief Executive Officer, 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. As a global integrated oil and gas company, our connectivity from the reservoir to the fuel pump is a significant source of strength and resilience, particularly given our ability to connect supply with demand.
"We maintained upstream production at around 2.2 million barrels per day, upstream plant reliability and refining availability both improved compared to the previous quarter, and our trading performance was also higher.
"This has generated a strong set of results, supported by the higher-price, higher-margin environment and some good progress on performance improvement across the business. Our underlying replacement cost profit for the quarter was $8.5 billion and operating cash flow was $14.8 billion, contributing to a reduction of $8.4 billion in net debt.
"We have now delivered our net debt and structural cost reductions targets and have line of sight on the remaining two of the four primary financial targets we set ourselves for 2027.
"Last week we announced an important step as we agreed with the State of Louisiana to accelerate the delivery of our Deepwater Horizon settlement commitments. Our intent is now to prioritize the use of excess cashflow to address our remaining Deepwater Horizon liabilities in full.
"Deepwater Horizon was a tragedy. Eleven men lost their lives, and communities and the environment across the Gulf Coast were impacted. We will never forget - it changed bp. Its legacy guides us in how we operate today, with safety at the heart of everything we do.
"And as we move forward, we will continue working with urgency to turn one good set of results into strong performance quarter after quarter. We have much more to do on the five priorities set out at mid-year to deliver a step change in performance and realize the full potential of this company."
FSTE100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was up 15 points at 10,763 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were up 2.06%, sitting at $113.08 a barrel this morning.
Companies reporting
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- AstraZeneca - Q3 Results
- BP - Q3 Results
- Cameco - Q3 Results
- NatWest - Q3 Results