BP profits soar by 29%

Oil giant BP delivered another leap in profits today after its surplus for the first three months of this year hit $5.49bn (€4.2bn).

The figure was 29% higher than the same period a year earlier and came as the UK’s biggest listed company continued to benefit from surging oil prices.

Chief executive Lord Browne said the strong start to 2005 also reflected the result of investments made by the company in recent years.

The profits figure, which is equivalent to earnings of £1.3m (€1.9m) an hour, comes two months after BP posted a record annual surplus of £8.7bn (€12.8bn) – a figure that stoked calls for a windfall tax on energy companies.

BP said the average price of Brent crude in the first quarter of this year reached $47.62 a barrel, compared with $32.03 in 2004.

As a result, profits from its exploration and production division stood at $6.49bn (€5bn), a gain of 53% on a year earlier.

Lord Browne said of today’s overall result: “This strong start in 2005 reflects the results of our significant investment programme over the past few years and improvements in underlying performance.”