BRITISH ENERGY

British energy giant BP reported Tuesday a net profit of $8.2 billion for the first quarter, recovering from a record loss a year earlier as it ended operations in Russia after the Ukraine invasion.

Shell net profit surged to a record $42.3 billion last year, the British energy giant said yesterday, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring.

British energy giant Shell yesterday said its net profit jumped 26 percent in the first quarter as soaring oil prices offset a sizeable charge linked to its Russia exit.

Profit after tax leapt to $7.1 billion (6.7 billion euros) compared with a year earlier, Shell said in a statement.

British energy giant Shell said yesterday that its decision to pull out of Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine has already cost the international energy giant as much as $5 billion.

British energy giant BP announced on Feb. 27 that it was pulling its 19.75-percent stake in Rosneft following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

London-based BP has held a 19.75 percent stake in Rosneft since 2013. That stake was valued at $14 billion at the time of the announcement.

The unprecedented jump in natural gas prices will force more British energy suppliers out of business and the industry needs to prepare for prolonged pain, energy officials and the business minister said on Wednesday.

BP plans to complete by mid-2018 the Georgian section of a $40-billion strategic pipeline bringing Caspian gas from Azerbaijan into Europe, the British energy company's country manager for Georgia said.