British oil giant BP today reported first-quarter profits of £2.86 billion sterling - its highest ever.
The latest figure means BP generated profits of £1 million an hour during the first quarter of the year.
BP says the figure - which compares to £1.88 billion for the same period a year ago - reflects higher gas and oil prices.
The BP figures include a one-off exceptional figure of £644 million and come just days after Shell posted first-quarter profits of £2.7 billion - 23 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier.
BP and Shell are already facing calls to be subject to a windfall tax after both reported pre-tax profits for last year of more than £9 billion.
But its results were hit by refinery maintenance shutdowns and a foreign exchange loss of £21 million on the devaluation of the Turkish lira.
The company also discovered oil fields in offshore Angola and the Gulf of Mexico.
PA
