Quitting Russia has pushed BP into red

LONDON: British energy giant BP said its decision to pull out of Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine pushed it deep into the red in the first three months of this year.

BP said in it booked its biggest quarterly net loss of $20.4billion (about R404bn) from January to March, compared with profit of $4.7bn a year earlier. Revenue jumped 40% to $51bn in three months as the war fuelled a rise in oil and gas prices. There have been calls for a windfall tax on energy majors as consumers endure the highest rate of inflation in decades. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson ruled out taxes on companies like BP and Shell, arguing it would derail efforts to meet climate goals.