As a result of oil trading operations in the first three months of 2026, BP is expected to record "exceptional" results / Photo: AVM Images / Shutterstock
Amid sharply higher oil prices due to war in the Middle East, British oil giant BP said it recorded an "exceptional" oil trading performance in the first quarter of 2026.
The company's shares added a little more than 1% on the premarket on April 14. Since the beginning of the year, they have gained almost 34%.
Details
The price of Brent crude oil has risen more than 60% since the start of the year. Against this backdrop, BP said its oil trading operations are expected to show "exceptional" results for the first three months of the year compared to a "weak" final quarter of 2025, BP said in a release.
The energy shock caused by the conflict in the Middle East has forced traders and refineries around the world to compete for any available cargoes to replace the huge volumes of supplies that have been blocked in the Persian Gulf by the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times points out.
The share of BP's assets in the Middle East is relatively low compared to its competitors, Bloomberg explains - it is mainly formed at the expense of the company's joint ventures in Iraq and the UAE. BP plans to release its full results for the first quarter of 2026 on April 28.
Context
Last week, oil company Shell also reported strong results from its oil traders, Bloomberg recalls. Meanwhile, BP and Shell's American competitors Exxon and Chevron disclosed aggregate losses on derivatives valued at market value of about $7 bln. Thus, they reflected paper losses on hedging related to cargoes that will take several weeks to be delivered.
The UAE and other Gulf countries have been forced to partially suspend production of oil, gas and petroleum products amid the war and damage from Iranian strikes to some facilities.
What other results BP expects in the first quarter of 2026
- BP's natural gas trading results for the first quarter of 2026 were "average," the company said in a release.
- At the same time, BP's oil production slightly decreased compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. The company's net share in production in Abu Dhabi is about 200 thousand barrels of oil per day within the ADNOC Onshore project.
- BP expects its net debt, excluding lease obligations, to grow to $25-27 billion from $22 billion at the end of 2025. The company primarily attributed this increase to a significant $4 bln-$7 bln increase in working capital - due to the higher pricing environment.
The report, Bloomberg notes, is the first for BP since CEO Meg O'Neil took office April 1. Her job is to make BP more efficient and focus on growing oil and gas production while divesting itself of low-margin clean energy assets. O'Neill succeeded Murray Auchincloss as head of BP. He was ousted from his position last year amid dissatisfaction with BP chairman Albert Manifold over "insufficiently rapid" changes at the company.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
