“The company is running well and it continues to strengthen. We have real strategic momentum,” BP’s chief executive Bernard Looney told Reuters.

Bernard Looney, who took office in 2020 with a vow to rapidly shift BP away from fossil fuels to renewables, said BP will increase its spending on new oil and gas by $500m in response to the global supply crunch.

“We will direct more investment towards hydrocarbons to help with energy security in the near term,” Looney said. “We’ll probably direct about a half a billion dollars for hydrocarbons.”

BP plans to maintain its overall capital expenditure this year in a range of $14 billion to $15 billion.

BP increased its dividend by 10% to 6.006 cents per share, more than its previous guidance of a 4% annual increase. It halved its dividend to 5.25 cents in July 2020 for the first time in a decade in the wake of the pandemic.

The company also increased its share repurchases plan for the current quarter to $3.5 billion after it bought $4.1 billion in the first half of the year.

The company said it expected crude oil and gas prices as well as refining margins to remain “elevated” in the third quarter and said it would stick to its target of using 60% of its surplus cash on share buybacks.

The surge in revenue also allowed BP to sharply reduce its debt to $22.8 billion from $27.5 billion at the end of March.

BP brings the second quarter profit tally for the top Western oil and gas companies to $59 billion after rivals including Exxon Mobil and Shell reported record earnings last week.

Despite the inflationary challenges impacting the broader food industry, Greencore said there has been ‘limited’ demand impact to date in the group’s categories.

The company said it will continue to monitor the impact of increased prices at a consumer level closely.

It said profit momentum improved during the three month period, driven by volume growth and better conversion due to enhanced productivity.

Gary Kennedy, Executive Chair of Greencore, said: “I am encouraged by the progress we have made during Q3 against the backdrop of inflationary pressures for the industry.

“Revenue and profit conversion through the period has been encouraging and we are confident in our ability to continue to manage the various industry challenges and end the year strongly.

“Our leading market positions, close customer relationships and intense focus on efficiencies mean that we look to the future with optimism, and we expect to deliver a strong year on year improvement in profitability, cash flow and returns for FY22.”

Greencore is due to report its full year results for the year ending 30 September 2022 on 29 November 2022.

It said it expects to generate a full year Adjusted Operating Profit outturn of between £72m and £77m.

Beer and cider consumption saw the most dramatic declines due to their popularity in pub trade. Beer consumption fell by 18.3% between 2019 and 2021 and cider was down by 15.1%.

Meanwhile, wine consumption was down by 13.1% between 2020 and 2021 and by 2.7% between 2019 and 2021.

Spirits consumption remained relatively static, rising marginally by 1.9% between 2019 and 2021.

Drinks Ireland said that people have progressively been drinking less since 2001. It noted that alcohol consumption is now at its lowest level in 20 years and has fallen by about 30% since 2001.

Patricia Callan, Director of Drinks Ireland, said today’s data shows the continued decline in alcohol consumption in Ireland, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

“The industry has worked hard to continue to tackle alcohol misuse. The growing trend we see at home and in other established international markets is people choosing to drink quality over quantity, which we welcome and will continue to encourage,” Ms Callan added.