BP on Tuesday reported a third-quarter profit of $8.15 billion, easily beating expectations, boosted by strong natural gas trading, and announced another $2.5 billion in share repurchases.
BP is the last top Western energy giant to report quarterly results after rivals including Shell, Exxon Mobil and TotalEnergies last week reported another round of bumper profits that revived calls from politicians to hit the sector with new windfall taxes to help governments with soaring energy bills.
Dividend Buy Back
BP, which increased its dividend by 10% in the quarter, will buy back $2.5 billion of shares after repurchasing $7.6 billion so far this year. BP has committed to using 60% of its excess cashflow for shareholder returns.
Third Quarter
BP's third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit of $8.15 billion, the company's definition of net income, compared with forecasts of a $6 billion loss in a company-provided survey of analysts.
The result was helped by 'an exceptional gas marketing and trading result' as well as higher gas prices, offsetting weaker refining margins and 'average' oil trading.
BP made a profit of $3.3 billion a year earlier and a 14-year high profit of $8.45 billion in the second quarter of 2022.
Read More: BP Boosts Buybacks As Profit Soars To Highest In Over Decade
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