BP (NYSE: BP) more than doubled its profit for the first quarter from a year earlier as oil prices jumped and oil trading boomed amid the war in the Middle East in the latter part of the quarter.
BP, the first of the supermajors to announce first-quarter results this earnings season, on Tuesday reported an underlying replacement cost profit – the metric closest to net profit – of $3.2 billion, more than double compared to the $1.4 billion income for the same period last year, and beating by a mile the analyst consensus estimate of $2.6 billion.
The first-quarter profit jump “reflects exceptional oil trading contribution and stronger midstream performance,” BP said in a statement.
“The oil trading contribution for the first quarter was exceptional compared with the average result in the same period of 2025 and the gas marketing and trading result was average compared with the weak result for the same period in 2025,” the supermajor added.
Earlier this month, BP had guided for an “exceptional” oil trading result for the first quarter of 2026, due to the extreme market volatility at the beginning of the Middle East conflict.
During the quarter, BP’s oil and gas output was broadly flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, as higher production in the Gulf of America and strong performance in the U.S. shale business, BPX Energy, offset the impact of disruptions in the Middle East and a North Sea divestment at the end of 2025.
In recent months, BP has been betting big on the U.S. shale patch to raise its worldwide production and accelerate drilling while keeping a tight capital budget. BPX Energy plans to boost its shale production by 8% to 500,000 boe/d this year, and raise output further, to 650,000 boe/d by the end of the decade, and do that with $800 million lower capital.
Commenting on the first-quarter earnings, BP’s new CEO Meg O’Neill said, “We had high plant reliability, high refining availability and increased production in the Gulf of America and at BPX Energy, our US onshore business – keeping production levels steady despite the ongoing disruption.”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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