BP reports £3.2bn profit

Oil giant BP said today that it had benefited from higher oil prices as it reported quarterly profits of 5.3 billion US dollars (£3.2bn).
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jul 2011, 09:14 BST

The British firm made a loss of 16.9 billion US dollars (£10.3m) in the same period a year ago - but this was in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

The group said production was 11 per cent lower in the period following suspension of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and 25 billion US dollars (£15.3bn) worth of asset sales.

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But this was offset by higher oil prices, driven up in the period by political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as higher refining margins - the difference between the value of crude oil and the products it is used for.

The Gulf of Mexico clean-up continued in the quarter - with 6.8 billion US dollars (£4.1bn) now paid out in claims and in government payments to fund economic and environmental restoration.