Nov. 1 (UPI) — British supermajor BP and Saudi Aramco capitalized on higher energy prices by way of healthy profits for the third quarter Tuesday, though they differed somewhat in their strategic visions.
BP reports income as underlying replacement cost profits. Its third quarter performance, at $8.15 billion, far overshadowed year-ago levels of $3.32 billion.
The company spent about $3.2 billion during the third quarter and that should turn out to be around $15 billion for the year, assuming its recent acquisition of Archaea Energy goes through.
BP announced the acquisition last month, describing it as part of its green pivot. Archaea operates 50 facilities that can draw natural gas from the decomposition of organic matter in landfills across the United States.
Bernard Looney, the top executive at BP, said his company is transforming into an all-of-the-above energy giant.
“We remain focused on helping to solve the energy trilemma — secure, affordable and lower carbon energy,” he said. “We are providing the oil and gas the world needs today, while at the same time investing to accelerate the energy transition.”
Most of the quarterly focus for BP was on clean energy. It’s working with vehicle rental company Hertz on building up the charging network for electric vehicles in the United States and is planning one of the largest hydrogen hubs in the world in Australia.
Hydrogen is still largely in the nascent stage, but it’s a potent energy carrier and the most abundant element in the universe and developmental progress is advancing at a healthy clip.
The company, however, actually took a $2.9 million loss on its natural gas and low-carbon energy segments, compared with a $2.7 billion profit during the second quarter.
It took in nearly $7 billion in profits from its oil production and associated operations, down about 4% from the second quarter.
Energy companies are turning in substantial revenue and shareholder returns on the back of higher commodity prices, much to the consternation of U.S. President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats. Biden has said repeatedly he’d like to see those profits invested back into the energy sector.
Overseas, the situation is no different. The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, better known as Saudi Aramco, blew BP out of the water with its $42.4 billion in third quarter profits. Despite the huge return, the company more or less matched BP in quarterly spending.
Amin Nasser, the company’s president and CEO, stressed the importance of lowering emissions and pursuing alternative forms of energy, but noted the world still needs fossil fuels.
“While global crude oil prices during this period were affected by continued economic uncertainty, our long-term view is that oil demand will continue to grow for the rest of the decade given the world’s need for more affordable and reliable energy,” he said.
