BP to buy back $1.4bn of shares and raises dividend as rising oil price boosts profits

Energy giant raises oil price forecasts for rest of decade, but lowers them for longer term

Future dividends will raise doubts about green plans

BP will hand shareholders a surprise dividend increase, and $1.4bn (1bn) in share buybacks, after the company returned to profit after a rebound in oil prices which it believes could last for the rest of the decade.

The oil giant predicted that the world's demand for oil will reach pre-pandemic levels by the second half of next year, and lifted the value of its oil reserves by $3bn after revising its forecasts for oil prices higher for the rest of the decade.