BP oil announces ‘exceptional’ profits after unprovoked US-Israel attack on Iran

This morning, BP announced oil trading results in 1Q 2026 are expected to be ‘exceptional’ compared to the ‘weak’ performance of the previous quarter.

BP said that the “ongoing situation in the Middle East” had “heightened volatility in crude oil, natural gas and refined products prices.” So, yes, the price shock and volatility have helped its profits.

The surge comes with Brent crude averaging $81.13 per barrel in the first quarter of 2026. That is up from $63.73 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2025.

BP hails ‘exceptional’ quarter for oil traders as Iran war stokes volatility https://t.co/gjME3EpQMD

— Financial Times (@FT) April 14, 2026

Shell expects a similar boost from the war. Also, TotalEnergies traders made more than $1bn in March by hoarding crude from the UAE and Oman.

BP and others are wart profiteers

Five leading oil companies, BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies, have recorded profits of almost half a trillion dollars (US$467 billion) between 2021 and 2026, according to an analysis from Global Witness.

Already in March, professor Nick Butler, a former Downing Street energy adviser who worked at BP for almost three decades, said on LBC that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could create a physical oil shortage, leading to rationing.

Meanwhile in the UK, Starmer announced £53m for vulnerable households who rely on heating oil in making from the very same crisis mid-March – a pittance if compared to the profits BP and its rivals are expected to make and already made this decade.

So, the winners of the US/Israel/UK war on Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza are the oil and arms traders. 

West Asia burns. BP counts its “exceptional” profits.

Featured image via the Canary