Oil boom helps BP beat forecasts (BBC News)

[Up2Late]

(Good thing * ordered that probe.)

Tuesday, 25 April 2006, 07:30 GMT 08:30 UK

Oil boom helps BP beat forecasts

Strong oil prices and a pick up in BP's refining unit have helped the oil giant to report better-than-expected profits for the first three months of the year.

BP said replacement cost profit for the first quarter was $5.265bn (£3bn). Stripping out one-off costs, underlying profit was $5.282bn compared with $4.96bn in the same period of 2005. "BP's first quarter result reflected good overall operating performance and a strong recovery in refining and marketing," said BP chief Lord Browne.

Back on stream

Oil prices have remained high in recent months because of a combination of strong demand and worries over supply. The price of US light, sweet crude oil hit a record high of more than $75 a barrel on Friday.

The high oil prices helped BP's exploration and production operations to increase replacement cost profits - which reflect the current cost of supplies - to $6.8bn from $6.5bn in the same period last year. Profits at its refining unit also rose - to $1.6bn from $1.4bn a year ago - despite a dip in margins from the end of 2005 and maintenance being carried out on BP's huge Texas City refinery.

(more at link)

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4941262.stm>

[Up2Late]

1. kick n/t

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