War & Militarism Morning Star
War pays... BP billions
Iran conflict sends BP profits skyrocketing and takes Euro fuel giants' gains to £66.4bn
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Iran conflict sends BP profits skyrocketing and takes Euro fuel giants' gains to £66.4bn
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The latest quarterly profits represent a staggering 282 per cent rise on the £1.65bn it coined-in over the same period in 2025, as the once state-owned business reaps the rewards of a war that has seen supplies hit by blockages in the Straits of Hormuz, and households face a 27 per cent rise in fuel bills from January.
The figures come hot on the heels of rivals Shell posting profits of over £8bn in the same period, and bring BP’s total haul to an eye-watering £13bn in the last nine months alone.
BP chief executive Meg O’Neill bragged: “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.”
But others were less than impressed by war profiteering while families up and down the country struggled with the cost of transport and heating their homes.
End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis accused BP of being “entrenched in the cost-of-living crisis through its retail operations and its market trading arm.”
“The business of buying, selling and moving energy around the world is a key part of the global system which is keeping gas and oil prices high for consumers in the UK,” he said.
“As households continue to face the reality of high energy prices this winter, the government must step in to reform energy markets so they deliver value for consumers and not just returns for shareholders.
“The best time to deliver a fairer energy system was five years ago when the problems became apparent. The second best time is now so ministers don’t fail again to learn the lessons of the gas and oil price crisis.”
Pointing out that the latest figures from Europe’s oil and gas giants bring total profiteering to a staggering £66.4bn this year, Global Witness, campaign group spokesman Jonathan Noronha-Gant said: “It is obscene that polluters are continuing to cash in on the fallout of the war in Iran, making more bumper profits from spiralling oil prices while innocent civilians suffer.
“These massive profits come as ordinary people across Europe are struggling with the rising cost of living, with many struggling to afford to heat their homes as winter arrives.
“Oil giants can and should pay much more for the damage they are doing to our planet.”
Echoing the call for tougher taxation, 350.org head of global campaigns Clemence Dubois hit out: “The climate crisis is not an abstract future threat.
“People are facing deadly heat, destroyed livelihoods and growing insecurity now.
“Governments are being forced to find money to protect their populations, while fossil fuel companies are forecast to make extraordinary profits from the same energy system that leaves people vulnerable.”
Slamming BP’s opposition to windfall taxes, a position backed by both the SNP and Tory parties, she continued: “The public cannot be expected to fund the response while the industry continues to defend its profits and its dependence on oil and gas.
“BP must be judged by its actions, not its advertising.
“Governments must make fossil fuel producers pay, fund the recovery communities need and accelerate a fair transition to affordable, clean energy.”
Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Danny Gross said: “The government must make energy affordable for everyone by removing the hidden taxes on electricity bills and forcing the worst climate offenders like BP to pay their fair share for the damage they cause to fund a faster, fairer transition to cheap, clean energy.”