BP profits more than double, beating expectations as Iran war boosts oil prices

bp's first-quarter profit more than doubled to $3.2 billion, beating analyst expectations of $2.63 billion. the surge came from higher oil and gas prices after the us-israeli war against iran started on feb 28. a year ago, bp's net profit was $1.38 billion. ceo meg o'neill called it "another quarter of strong operational and financial delivery." shares rose 2.5% on the london stock exchange, which is up 32% this year — second only to totalenergies among the top five oil majors. net debt rose to $25.3 billion from $22.18 billion at the end of last year. bp aims to bring it down to $14-18 billion by end of 2026. the company expects upstream production to dip next quarter due to seasonal maintenance and middle east disruptions. it also faced a shareholder revolt at its annual meeting last week over climate transparency and governance.