Soaring oil price doubles BP profit

HIGHER oil prices and bumper production helped BP’s annual profits to more than double to £4.4bn.

Seven major projects boosted production to 3.6m barrels of oil and gas per day, the highest since the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Those include projects in Egypt, Azerbaijan and the North Sea.

BP follows UK rival Shell in seeing a boost from higher oil prices, which have risen from less than $30 a barrel in January 2016 to more than $60 a barrel at the end of last year. Chief finance officer Brian Gilvary said the oil major would make a profit at $50 a barrel.

Both Shell and BP, however, have disappointed investors on cash flow. BP’s cash flow in the fourth quarter rose slightly to £4.4bn, falling slightly short of market expectations.

Chief executive Bob Dudley, 62, said it was one of the strongest years in the firm’s history. But its surge in profits came despite taking a £648m hit from changes to US tax rules. It does expect to benefit in the long term, however.

Its costs for the Deepwater Horizon disaster have reached £46.8bn.