BP results: Oil giant branded Halloween horror show as it posts ‘hefty takings’ while millions ‘struggle to heat homes’

BP has been branded as “chilling” and “going all in for Halloween this year” after the oil giant posted “hefty takings” despite households struggling to heat their homes this winter. Today (31 October) BP’s profit missed expectations in the three months to the end of September and the company flagged a more than half-billion dollar charge it had taken on three wind farms off the coast of New York.

However, despite missing its profit expectations, Emi Murphy, warm homes campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said the energy giant is “still posting hefty takings while millions of people are struggling to afford to heat their homes this winter”. She said: “BP has really gone all in for Halloween this year. It recently rowed back on its climate pledges, the same year we’ve seen record-breaking temperatures, devastating floods and unprecedented ocean warming – can you think of anything more chilling?”

She added that the government has had “countless opportunities to bring down our bills and emissions through a nationwide programme of insulation funded by a proper windfall tax on the excess profits of fossil fuel companies and cheap, clean renewables” but instead there are “weakened green policies and massive tax breaks for oil and gas giants.” BP has had a turbulent quarter as its CEO Bernard Looney stepped down from the top job after it was revealed that he had not fully disclosed prior relationships with BP staff members to the board.

BP said that underlying replacement cost profit – its preferred measure – was 3.3 billion dollars (£2.7 billion) in the third quarter, down from 8.2 billion dollars (£6.8 billion) a year earlier. It had been expected to make around four billion dollars (£3.3 billion). It is the company’s lowest third-quarter profit since 2020 when it made just 86 million dollars (£71 million at today’s exchange rate) as demand for oil, and the price of oil, plummeted during pandemic lockdowns.

However, Murray Auchincloss, the finance boss who is now serving as interim chief executive, said this quarter has been “solid” and “supported by strong underlying operational performance demonstrating our continued focus on delivery.” He added: “As we laid out at our investor update in Denver, we remain committed to executing our strategy, expect to grow earnings through this decade, and on track to deliver strong returns for our shareholders.”

In February BP announced it would be scaling back plans to cut carbon emissions by reducing its oil and gas output. The company - which was one of the first oil and gas giants to announce an ambition to cut emissions to net zero by 2050 - had previously promised that emissions would be 35-40% lower by the end of this decade. However, it said it was now targeting a 20-30% cut, in order to keep investing in oil and gas to meet current demands.