On Tuesday, British oil and gas giant BP beat third-quarter earnings expectations, fueled by increasing energy prices.
According to Refinitiv, BP posted an underlying replacement cost profit of $3.3 billion for the third quarter, a figure which surpasses analyst predictions. The $3.3 billion figure compares to a $2.8 billion net profit in the previous quarter and $100 million for the same period last year when the pandemic saw oil prices collapse. In 2021, Brent crude prices have increased by approximately 60% so far.
In the company’s earnings report, CEO Bernard Looney said, “Rising commodity prices certainly helped, but I am most pleased that quarter by quarter, we’re doing what we said we would - delivering significant cash to strengthen our finances, grow distributions to shareholders and invest in our strategic transformation.”
However, BP also reported a headline loss of $2.5 billion for the third quarter, “driven by significant adverse fair value accounting effects.” Consequently, BP took a $6.1 billion hit which it attributed to the “exceptional increase in forward gas prices towards the end of the quarter.”
