stake to zero, he also made $6.2 billion of underlying first-quarter earnings from sky-high oil and gas prices. Besides beating analyst expectations by 39%, that let the $100 billion UK oil major cut its net debt and reduce the hit to its balance sheet from quitting Russia.
There’s such a thing as doing too well, though. Politicians hunting for windfalls to tax in Spain and Italy are struggling for lucrative targets– many electricity groups are not reaping bumper profits after selling their power forward when prices were lower. BP’s first-quarter earnings, however, dwarf 2021’s $2.6 billion.