Oil giant BP has swung to a mammoth $US12.8 billion ($A18 billion) annual profit after notching up more than $US4 billion in the final three months of the year alone.
The group reported an underlying replacement cost profit – its preferred measure – of $US4.07 billion for the three months to the end of December, up from $US115 million a year earlier.
It helped drive BP to the hefty profit haul overall for 2021, which comes after it slumped to its biggest annual loss in 2020, when it tumbled into the red by $US18.1 billion on a statutory basis.
BP also announced more cash returns for shareholders, with another $US1.5 billion of share buybacks before its first-quarter 2022 results.
The figures follow rebounding oil prices after economies worldwide have reopened following the early stages of the pandemic.
But the results also come amid mounting pressure on the sector as the cost of living crisis deepens, with calls growing for a windfall tax on energy giants.
Extracted from Canberra Times