BP saw its third quarter profits increase to a five-year high. The increase of profits to more than double was driven by higher oil prices. Additionally, the $10.5 billion purchase of BHP Billiton’s U.S shale business is said to be completed this week.

Today, the company has revealed that profit had more than doubled in the third quarter. Moreover, the company’s definition of net income increased to $3.8 billion. This figure compares to $1.86 billion last year and $2.8 billion in the second quarter of 2018.

For the first nine months of 2018, oil and gas production increased to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. This figure is expected to rise further with the finalisation of the $10.5 billion purchase of BHP’s U.S shale business. The acquisition is set to be completed on the 31^st October 2018.

Equally, BP has stated that it will fully fund the BHP acquisition without needing to resort to a rights issue as planned.

The increase in oil prices over this year has continued to drive revenue for BP and other oil companies. Indeed, oil prices this year have been the highest since late 2014, allowing companies to experience a significant profit growth.

Over the past year, BP has unveiled nine major oil and gas fields. These are located in Azerbaijan, Oman, Egypt and Angola, to name a few. By 2021, it is expected that these will increase production by 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley commented in a statement:

“Operations are running well across BP and we’re bringing new, higher-margin barrels into production faster through efficient project execution.”

Bob Dudley has also said that the shale acquisition will “transform” the company’s position in the U.S.

At 08:15 GMT today, shares in BP plc (LON:BP) were trading at +3.57%.

At 08:17 GMY today, shares in BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT) were trading at +0.40%.