Company follows Shell in benefiting from energy crisis, which will prompt calls for windfall tax<\/p>\n
Last modified on Tue 8 Feb 2022 02.42 EST<\/p>\n
BP has reported a quarterly profit of more than $4bn (\u00a32.96bn) and annual profits hit an eight-year high as it benefited from a surge in energy prices around the world.<\/p>\n
The oil company\u2019s underlying profit of $4.1bn in the final quarter of 2021 compares with just $115m a year before. Over the year as a whole, BP made a profit of $12.8bn as global gas markets surged and oil prices rallied to seven-year highs. It compared with a $5.7bn loss in 2020.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The bumper profits are likely to prompt fresh calls for a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies to fund extra help for hard-hit households braced for a sharp rise in energy bills and wider cost of living crisis. Last week, BP\u2019s rival, Shell, reported a quadrupling of profits.<\/p>\n
In December the BP chief executive, Bernard Looney, said the energy crisis had transformed the company into a \u201ccash machine\u201d.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the results on Tuesday, Looney said: \u201c2021 shows BP doing what we said we would \u2013 performing while transforming. We\u2019ve strengthened the balance sheet and grown returns. We\u2019re delivering distributions to shareholders with $4.15bn of buybacks announced and the dividend increased.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019re investing for the future. We\u2019ve made strong progress in our transformation to an integrated energy company: focusing and high grading our hydrocarbons business, growing in convenience and mobility and building with discipline a low carbon energy business now with over 5GW in offshore wind projects \u2013 and significant opportunities in hydrogen.\u201d<\/p>\n