BP has reported underlying replacement-cost profit of $8.46bn for the third quarter of 2026, a sharp increase on both the previous quarter and the same period a year earlier. The result was its highest on that measure since 2008.
The company’s detailed results table puts the figure at $8.458bn, compared with $2.210bn in the third quarter of 2025 and $5.732bn in the second quarter of 2026. The headline $8.46bn figure is the rounded version of that underlying result.
Separately, BP reported profit for the period attributable to shareholders of $4.696bn for the third quarter of 2026. That is a different reported figure from the $8.458bn underlying replacement-cost result and should not be treated as another presentation of the same amount.
BP identifies underlying replacement-cost profit as a non-IFRS measure. The distinction is important when describing the results: the $8.46bn headline concerns that underlying measure, while the profit attributable to shareholders is reported separately at $4.696bn.
Refining margins and trading
BP said the quarter-on-quarter increase in its underlying result mainly reflected significantly higher realised refining margins and a significantly higher gas and marketing trading result. Its explanation identified improvements in both areas as the main factors behind the rise from the second quarter.
The refining indicator margin stood at $46.7 per barrel in the third quarter, compared with $29.6 in the second quarter and $15.8 in the same period a year earlier. The latest indicator was therefore above both of the comparison periods.
The third-quarter indicator was higher than the second-quarter reading, which was itself above the figure reported a year earlier. The rise was evident across both comparisons, matching the direction of the changes in underlying replacement-cost profit.
The per-barrel refining indicator is a different figure from the quarterly profit total. It provides a margin comparison, while BP’s explanation of the underlying profit increase refers to realised refining margins as well as the gas and marketing trading result.
Gas and marketing trading was the other main element highlighted in BP’s explanation. The company described that result as significantly higher in its account of the quarter-on-quarter increase, alongside the improvement in realised refining margins.
Comparison with earlier results
The latest underlying replacement-cost profit was below the $8.9bn recorded in 2008, although it was BP’s highest since then. That historical comparison relates specifically to the underlying replacement-cost measure, rather than to every profit figure reported by the company.
The second-quarter result had already been higher than the third-quarter figure a year earlier. The latest results put the third-quarter underlying measure above both, showing that the increase was not confined to a comparison with the lower 2025 figure.
The year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter profit comparisons both use underlying replacement-cost profit throughout. They therefore compare the same named measure across the three periods, rather than switching between the underlying result and profit attributable to shareholders.
Likewise, the comparison with 2008 is a statement about the scale of BP’s underlying replacement-cost profit. It does not make the third-quarter shareholder-attributable figure a record, nor does it mean that the latest underlying result exceeded the $8.9bn recorded that year.
Taken together, the results show a markedly higher third-quarter underlying profit, with BP pointing chiefly to refining margins and gas and marketing trading. The separate shareholder-attributable result remains $4.696bn, distinct from the underlying measure used for the quarterly and historical comparisons.
