FILE - A logo of BP at a gas station in London, on Nov. 1, 2022. British energy giant BP posted strong quarterly profit numbers on Tuesday May 2, 2023. even as energy prices that soared after Russia's war in Ukraine last year have eased off. London-based BP said it earned $5 billion in underlying replacement cost profit, up from $4.8 billion in the previous quarter. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
FILE - A logo of BP at a gas station in London, on Nov. 1, 2022. British energy giant BP posted strong quarterly profit numbers on Tuesday May 2, 2023. even as energy prices that soared after Russia's war in Ukraine last year have eased off. London-based BP said it earned $5 billion in underlying replacement cost profit, up from $4.8 billion in the previous quarter. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
LONDON (AP) — British energy giant BP posted a strong quarterly profit on Tuesday even as oil and natural prices that soared after Russia's war in Ukraine last year have eased off.
London-based BP said it earned $5 billion in underlying replacement cost profit in the first three months of the year, up from $4.8 billion in the previous quarter. The figure excludes one-time items and fluctuations in the value of inventories.
The company said the "reflects an exceptional gas marketing and trading result” and a “very strong oil trading result.”
“This has been a quarter of strong performance and strategic delivery,” CEO Bernard Looney said in a statement.
Oil companies around the world have been reporting bumper earnings in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which sent energy prices soaring and to the world.
The fat profits and resulting have spurred demands that the companies do more to protect consumers squeezed by that have sent inflation skyrocketing.
The latest profit numbers were lower than the $6.2 billion BP posted in the first quarter of 2022 but still beat analyst expectations even as oil and since spiking in the first half of last year.
The earnings report reignited a debate in the U.K. over getting a windfall from high energy prices amid Russia’s war. British opposition leader Keir Starmer told the BBC that BP's profits are “over and above” what the company expected and should contribute to a “proper windfall tax."
BP said it expected oil demand to "remain elevated" in the second quarter because of a recent decision by , combined with strengthening Chinese demand.
The company also has come under fire recently for scaling back its climate goals — watering down its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a third, while planning to pump more more oil and gas by the end of the decade than it previously forecast.
BP also announced further plans to reward shareholders, buying back an additional $1.75 billion of stock, though that was lower than the $2.75 billion buyback in the previous quarter.
The energy giant's rivals have posted similarly whopping financial results in recent weeks. $11.4 billion in the first quarter, and .
in 2022, the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company.
Shell, another London-based energy giant, is due to report its quarterly earnings Thursday.
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