George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said that it would be a “scandal” if petrol prices did not fall. “BP have absolutely no excuse for not passing on any fuel price falls to customers. It would be a scandal if they do not,” he said.
The average price of unleaded petrol on BP forecourts yesterday stood at 99.5p a litre. The industry average is 95.8p.
BP insisted that it was continuing to cut prices to reflect the slide in global crude prices, which stood at $63 a barrel yesterday, just above a 17-month low of $61 on Monday.
“We are urgently passing on the fall in the oil price to consumers,” a spokesman said. “Petrol prices have fallen by 20p a litre in the last few months.”
BP opposed fresh calls for a windfall tax, saying that about 70 per cent of the retail price of petrol goes directly to the Government in fuel duty and VAT. A spokesman said: “BP is Britain's biggest taxpayer, handing more than £20 billion to the Exchequer in the last three years. At a time when the Government is running a massive deficit, that is a vital contribution to the national finances.”
Much of the surge in profits reported yesterday was due to soaring global oil prices, which touched a record high of $147 a barrel on July 11.
Joint general secretary of Unite, Tony Woodley, said: "While the poor and vulnerable cannot make ends meet or heat their homes, the greedy oil companies are banking money faster than they can count it."
Mr Woodley also called for energy firms to be hit with windfall taxes: "It is no longer acceptable for Government to stand on the sidelines while such astronomical windfall profits are raked in.
"It is time to put an end to this obscene profiteering."
Tony Hayward, chief executive, said: “Although it has since fallen away sharply, the high oil price of the third quarter obviously helped our absolute result.”
At the start of the period, crude cost about $140 a barrel, but fell to about $100 by the end of September.
The oil giant's results were also boosted by higher production volumes, which rose 5 per cent on a year ago to more than 3.6 million barrels a day after the return to service of Thunderhorse, a platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the world's largest offshore production facility and pumps 250,000 barrels a day.
BP also noted improvements in its refining and marketing division, which enjoyed a 70 per cent leap in profits.
BP, which is expected to appoint Paul Skinner of Rio Tinto as its chairman next year, said its quarterly dividend, to be paid in December, would be 14 cents a share, up from 10.8 cents a year ago. For the nine months, the dividend showed a 30 per cent increase. BP shares rose from 438p to 461p.
The company said that the results would have been even stronger had it not been for disruption related to Russia's invasion of Georgia, which briefly cut supplies of crude through a pipeline in the Caspian region.
The impact of Hurricane Ike in America also caused problems.
Downing Street acknowledged that BP generated much of its profits overseas and that it needed to invest in North Sea oil exploration and production.
The price of US light crude oil for December delivery fell 49 cents to $62.73 per barrel as traders focused on gloomy numbers on US consumer confidence. In London stronger equity prices supported Brent crude, which added 76 cents to a $62.17.
Author: Jo Amey
