BP Profits Double as Iran War Drives Up Energy Prices

BP profits have nearly doubled in the first quarter of this year as the Iran war drives up energy prices, its latest financial results show.

The oil major has just reported that it made a profit of nearly $3.2bn in the first three months of 2026, on its favoured 'underlying replacement cost' earnings measure. That's higher than City analysts had predicted, with BP - which was hit by a shareholder rebellion last week – giving some of the credit to an "exceptional" contribution from its oil trading operations.

These quarterly profits are up from $1.54bn in the fourth quarter of 2025, and $1.38bn in the first quarter of last year. Q1 2026 includes the surge in oil and gas prices in March, after the war began at the end of February, disrupting energy supplies from the region.

BP's new CEO, Meg O'Neill, acknowledges the impact of the Middlle East conflict, saying the company is working in an "environment of conflict and complexity". O'Neill says BP is "working with customers and governments to get fuel where it's needed" – at a time when fears of jet fuel shortages are growing.

She adds: "Overall, our business continues to run well. This was another quarter of strong operational and financial delivery, and we made further progress towards our 2027 targets. 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."

Campaign group Global Witness pointed out that the Middle East conflict is the second event to give BP 'bumper profits' in the last four years.

Patrick Galey, head of news investigations at Global Witness, said: "It is horrifying to see BP's profits grow as millions suffer the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran. Unfortunately we've been here before – when Russia invaded Ukraine 4 years ago we saw big oil firms make bumper profits from spiralling fuel costs. As oil prices drive up bills once again, it's clear that fossil fuel companies don't enhance affordability or energy security, they make life worse. They destroy the climate, push up the cost of living, and rake in billions in profit while innocent civilians die. It's well overdue that we make oil companies pay for the damage their doing. If they broke it, they need to fix it. It's clear they can afford to. BP profits, we all pay."

The surge in energy prices is worrying central banks, many of whom are setting interest rates this week. Overnight, the Bank of Japan left borrowing costs unchanged, but three policymakers did break ranks and vote for a hike.