BP records £4bn profits – but how much do they charge at Lincolnshire pumps?

Global oil and gas corporation BP has reported £4 billion profits in the first three months of 2023.

There has been criticism of the amount oil companies are making at a time when many families are facing economic hardship.

Some have called for the money to be passed onto motorists, or for oil companies to pay higher taxes.

Although BP’s profit are down from a $6.2bn peak during the early stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the company is still benefitting from higher oil and petrol prices.

So how does that translate to the prices we pay at our petrol pumps?

| Stock photo

The Lincolnite checked out what BP are charging per litre at the pump of its petrol stations in Lincolnshire.

Of the ten cheapest petrol stations within a 20 mile radius of Lincoln, just one – at Bowbridge Road in Newark – are run by BP, costing 143.9p per litre as per the latest information on PetrolPrices.com.

The nine other cheapest BP petrol stations vary from 146.9p (Thorpe on the Hill, Holdingham etc.) to 169.9p (A1 Grantham service station).

By comparison, the nine cheapest Shell garages in that same radius range from 147.9p to 152.9p, meaning BP’s cheapest station is lower than Shell’s, but also has a higher peak than its competitor in the Lincolnshire area.

As for Gulf, the price range on the nine cheapest stations are 143.7p to 150.9p, cheaper than BP at both the highest and lowest price points in Lincolnshire.

The prices are a far cry from the staggering hikes of last summer, where the BP garage at Gonerby Moor tipped over £2 for a litre of petrol in the biggest price peak for a generation.

| Photo: RAC Foundation

According to the RAC Foundation, the average price of petrol was 146.5p per litre as of April 28, with diesel standing slightly higher at 159.39p.

Despite prices levelling out after the summer 2022 peak, the market has only returned to December 2021 levels, and is still 40p per litre more than it was in May 2020.

How much do energy companies currently spend in tax?

The UK government introduced the Energy Profits Levy – a windfall tax on profits made from extracting UK oil and gas – to lower household bills.

It is set at 35% and brings the total UK tax rate to 75% for oil and gas companies, but this can be reduced when factoring in losses or investment into business.

Due to the vast majority of BP’s profits coming from outside the UK, large sections of money earned by the oil giant cannot be covered by the Energy Profits Levy.

However, the company says it paid some $650 million in tax for the first three months of 2023 – with around $300 million due to the levy.

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