# BP profits soar to four-year high after boost from Iran war

By Robert Palmer — 2026-08-04

Robert Palmer, deputy director of Uplift, said: “BP is the latest oil and gas company to announce massive profits whilst UK billpayers despair over sky high prices.

“It prioritises paying shareholders over looking after workers and ordinary people whilst reaping a ‘war bonus’ because of the Iran conflict. The war isn’t only a humanitarian disaster but an economic one for ordinary people, who have ended up paying the price of a ‘Trump Tax’ as the cost of energy rises.

“Today’s profits announcement shows again that oil companies make decisions first and foremost based on the interests of their shareholders.

“That’s why BP put its North Sea operation up for sale last week. With around 93 per cent of the ageing basin’s recoverable reserves already extracted, the company has logically decided there’s more money to be made elsewhere.

“Given how little is left in the North Sea, politicians can not pretend that oil and gas is now a path to growth and secure jobs – to do so is a denial of these facts and a betrayal of workers.

“More drilling isn’t a jobs strategy. Nor will it take a penny off bills or make a meaningful difference to energy security – most of what’s left in the basin is oil, the vast majority of which is exported.

“The Labour government must not cave in to the demands to ramp up drilling from an oil industry seeking to squeeze every last bit of profit from the North Sea before heading for the exit.

“Genuine reindustrialisation requires the UK and Scottish governments to work together and step in with a coherent plan and public investment in new industries, like wind manufacturing, that will provide good jobs and power the UK for decades to come.

“If BP’s planned exit tells us anything, it’s that oil companies will always prioritise the needs of shareholders and walk away from workers and communities without a second thought. That is how they continue to rake in these excessive profits.”

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