BP profits surge from energy crisis as climate impacts mount and fossil fuel industry resists responsibility

With hundreds of thousands of heat-related deaths projected, 350.org says BP’s profits must not be protected while communities are left to pay the price. As climate impacts intensify across the world, BP is positioned to benefit from soaring refining margins and energy market disruption, even as governments face mounting costs to protect households and communities.

BP reported an 18-year high third-quarter underlying replacement-cost profit of $8.46 billion (£6.3 billion), nearly quadrupling the $2.21 billion recorded during the same period last year and beating analyst expectations of around $7.3 billion. It is one of five major oil and gas companies expected to report around $53 billion in combined third-quarter profits, more than double their earnings a year earlier.

Yet, as the climate crisis threatens lives on a vast scale. Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Climate Impact Lab estimate that El Niño could contribute to 451,000 additional heat-related deaths between June 2026 and February 2027. This is a modelled projection, not a confirmed death toll, and comes alongside the threat of droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather impacts.

Despite the scale of the risks, BP chief executive Meg O’Neill described new windfall taxes as a “highly flawed response” in April, arguing for cooperation with governments to supply energy and pointing to further North Sea opportunities. The company’s record also raises questions about its claims to be part of the climate solution. A leaked advertising brief prepared for BP in 2020 proposed presenting the company as transforming itself to help the world transition to a low-carbon future, while listing “Invest in more oil and gas” as its first business strategy.

Clemence Dubois, Head of Global Campaigns 350.org

“The climate crisis is not an abstract future threat. People are facing deadly heat, destroyed livelihoods and growing insecurity now. Governments are being forced to find money to protect their populations, while fossil fuel companies are forecast to make extraordinary profits from the same energy system that leaves people vulnerable.

BP’s opposition to windfall taxes is an attempt to protect the company from contributing fairly to the consequences of this crisis. The public cannot be expected to fund the response while the industry continues to defend its profits and its dependence on oil and gas. BP must be judged by its actions, not its advertising. Governments must make fossil fuel producers pay, fund the recovery communities need and accelerate a fair transition to affordable, clean energy.”

350.org is calling on governments to impose permanent producer levies, tax exceptional profits, restrict shareholder payouts until independently assessed climate and clean-up obligations are funded, and establish binding plans for a just phase-out of fossil fuels.

ENDS

Notes to editors

• RBC Capital Markets estimates cited by Reuters columnist Ron Bousso on 28 September put combined third-quarter profits for BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies at around $53 billion.
• 350.org is an international climate movement working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a just, equitable future powered by renewable energy.