War helps BP to record profits
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Profits up, but BP's share price was little moved Tuesday morning.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- BP, the world's third-largest oil company, posted record quarterly profits on Tuesday as the war in Iraq and strikes in Venezuela pushed prices to a 12-year high.
Profit, excluding exceptional items and reflecting supply costs, rose to $3.73 billion in the first three months of this year from $1.58 billion in the same period a year ago. This was at the top end of analysts' expectations, according to a Reuters poll.
Crude oil prices soared to almost $40 a barrel in New York in February as war in Iraq loomed.
Crippling strikes in Venezuela, which shut down supplies to the United States in December and January, also helped price rises and boosted refining margins -- the difference between the cost of crude and the selling price of by-products.
BP's rivals Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon are also expected to benefit from strong crude prices.
But BP's stock price was unmoved by the profit as oil prices slid from recent highs. Brent Crude futures for June delivery fell 35 cents to $23.15 on London's International Petroleum Exchange on Tuesday morning.
Britain's biggest company by stock market value saw its shares inch up 0.2 percent to 403.75 pence in London. Its stock has suffered from last year's missed production growth targets.
BP turned in oil and gas output growth of three percent in the quarter compared with a year earlier. Some analysts had expected just two percent, according to Reuters.
"Strategy continues to be implemented with growth on track and strong performance delivery,'' said BP Chief Executive John Browne.
