LONDON: Energy giant British Petroleum (BP) posted mixed earnings on Tuesday, running up a hefty quarterly net loss linked to future gas costs, but bumper underlying profits thanks to soaring oil prices.
The net loss for the third quarter stood at $2.5 billion (2.15 billion euros), compared with a loss of $450 million in the equivalent period last year, BP said in a statement.
The wider loss “was driven by significant adverse fair value accounting effects of $6.1 billion pre-tax, primarily due to the exceptional increase in forward gas prices towards the end of the quarter,” the company said.
Underlying profit; however, surged to $3.3 billion from $86 million, BP said.
“Rising commodity prices certainly helped,” chief executive Bernard Looney said.