BP profits soar to four-year high after Iran war boost

BP has been criticised following its strongest quarterly profits for four years after being boosted by volatile energy prices during the Middle East conflict.

The uptick came as new boss Meg O’Neill pledged “urgent action” to create more value for shareholders and revealed plans to sell off its US biogas business Archaea.

The FTSE 100 company revealed its preferred profit measure – underlying replacement cost profit – surged by around 78 per cent to £4.2 billion for the second quarter of 2026, compared with the previous three months.

The sharp jump came as its refining and trading business benefited from rising prices during the Iran war.

Rivals including Shell and ExxonMobil have also reported stronger profits.

However, campaigners have accused BP of profiteering from a “climate crisis”.

Rosie Downes, Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns, said: “Clearly not everyone is feeling the pain of the energy crisis.

“While BP banks another round of enormous profits, millions of households are paying the price through sky-high energy bills and a climate crisis accelerating rapidly out of control with increasingly severe heatwaves, wildfires and droughts.”

BP’s planned Archaea sell-off is part of efforts under the leadership of Ms O’Neill, who joined the firm in April, to divest non-core assets.

It comes after BP last week put its UK North Sea business up for sale after 60 years of production.

Ms O’Neill said: “We are not making the most of our potential.

“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.

“We know what we need to do, we are taking urgent action and I am confident this is how we will grow long-term value for shareholders.”

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