[ad_1]
BP, one of many world’s largest oil firms, simply beat expectations for second-quarter revenue on Tuesday as excessive costs and constrained provide have pushed up earnings for power firms.
BP reported an underlying revenue of $8.5 billion, up from $6.2 billion within the earlier quarter and triple the $2.8 billion in the identical interval final 12 months. Its shares rose greater than 4 p.c in early buying and selling in London, the place the corporate relies.
The outcomes imply that the 5 largest Western oil firms — BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and TotalEnergies — generated some $60 billion in revenue for the second quarter. The surge in earnings adopted a spike in crude oil, pure fuel and gasoline costs this 12 months, ensuing principally from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 5 power giants additionally spent about $25 billion within the first half of the 12 months shopping for again their very own shares, which primarily rewards shareholders by elevating the worth of shares. BP stated it spent $3.9 billion on buybacks within the first half, and deliberate $3.5 billion price of buybacks within the third quarter. The corporate stated it will dedicate 60 p.c of its “surplus money circulation” this 12 months to share buybacks. It additionally raised its dividend by 10 p.c.
BP introduced its exit from Russia in February, and within the first quarter wrote off about $25 billion within the worth of its stake in Rosneft, Russia’s state-controlled oil firm, and different ventures. Analysts thought of {that a} paper loss with little relevance to BP’s future efficiency.
Vitality firms’ windfall income have introduced political strain on them to do extra to extend manufacturing and decrease prices to customers. President Biden has accused oil firms of profiteering off surging power costs and Britain, dwelling of BP and Shell, has introduced a particular tax on the business’s “extraordinary” income.
[ad_2]
Supply- nytimes