LONDON – BP reported second-quarter profit more than doubled to US$5.73 billion (S$7.36 billion), beating forecasts thanks to higher energy prices, trading and refining margins, as CEO Meg O’Neill outlined the group’s priorities.Oil majors have benefited in 2026 from market volatility caused by the US-Iran conflict, which has disrupted energy flows and tightened global supplies.BP’s second-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, its version of net income, beat expectations of US$5.11 billion in a company-provided poll of analysts and rose from US$2.35 billion a year earlier. The group said it would increase its dividend by 4 per cent to 8.66 cents per ordinary share for the second quarter.BP also said on Aug 4 it had launched processes to sell its US biogas business Archaea as it continues to reduce its renewables investments to focus on oil and gas.It bought Archaea in 2022 for US$4.1 billion as part of an aggressive expansion in renewables – a strategy it abandoned in 2025. BP has written down over US$4 billion in recent months, mainly related to Archaea, its solar unit Lightsource BP and other low-carbon ventures.In recent weeks, BP has also completed the sale of its Gelsenkirchen refinery, agreed to sell its retail business in Austria and announced its intention to sell its UK North Sea business.BP’s shares rose 0.4 per cent in early trading, compared with a 0.9 per cent uptick for a broader index of European energy firms.‘We have not delivered consistently’O’Neill, who took over as CEO in April, outlined on Aug 4 five priorities for BP: Further strengthening the balance sheet, simplifying the portfolio, tightening investment discipline, improving operational performance, and creating structures that enable faster decision-making and greater accountability.“We are not making the most of our potential,” O’Neill said. “Our performance over the past few years has not met our own expectations, let alone those of our shareholders. We have not delivered consistently; we have written off too much value; and our costs and liabilities are not resilient enough in a low price environment.”BP’s priorities ultimately will be judged on execution, RBC analysts said in a note.“Ownership of BP’s historical failings is a good step forward for the investment case, and we look to the call for more clarity on the financial framework and tangible plans ahead,” they said.Net profit at highest since 2022BP expects capital expenditure in 2026 to be US$13.5 billion to US$14 billion, reflecting a decision to delay asset farm-downs and capture better value. Previous guidance was US$13 billion to US$13.5 billion.BP recorded its highest quarterly net profit since the third quarter of 2022, and second-quarter profits across all units beat expectations. Pre-tax profit at its customers and products unit, which includes BP’s huge oil trading desk, was US$4.95 billion, above the average estimate in a BP-provided analyst poll of US$4.46 billion and US$1.53 billion a year ago.The group said upstream plant reliability fell to 92.4 per cent in the second quarter from 95.7 per cent in the previous quarter, while production declined to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and its refineries processed less crude, partly due to planned maintenance and disruption from the conflict in the Middle East.Brent crude prices averaged about US$97 a barrel in the second quarter, up from US$78 in the first quarter and US$67 a year earlier, while European gas prices rose to €46 (S$68) per megawatt-hour from €40 in the first quarter and €36 a year earlier. REUTERS