Oil & Gas

It may be giving sleepless nights to cabbies, cut-price airlines and central bankers, but the dizzying price of oil helped spur BP and Royal Dutch Shellto first-quarter profits that far outstripped market expectations. BP cautioned that its replacement cost net profit - up 48 per cent at $6.59bn (£3.3bn) - did not mean it was out of the woods following its recent travails. Tony Hayward, chief executive, said the numbers were a "good start" but warned there was a "lot more to do to change performance". Shell's replacement cost profit was up 12 per cent at $7.78bn. The Hague-based major also said it was selling its stake in the world's biggest wind farm, a 1GW farm known as the London Array, dealing a blow to the UK's attractiveness as a site for such projects.