Pump prices must fall, Brown warns BP after record £70m-a-day profits

BP faces renewed calls for a windfall tax and a cut in pump prices after posting 'obscene' profits of £70million a day. The oil company racked up its biggest-ever earnings between July and September, recording a profit of up to 148 per cent at £6.4billion.

That equates to nearly £3million an hour. The announcement provoked some MPs to renew calls for a windfall tax on the energy industry. Gordon Brown also weighed in, warning BP to lower pump prices as soon as possible following the recent drop in the cost of crude oil.

'I notice that some companies have brought their prices down, and I encourage others to do so to reflect the fact that the price of oil is now below $60, when it used to be, for a few weeks, nearly $150 dollars,' said the Prime Minister. 'Just as when the price goes up people see it immediately reflected in the petrol pump prices, we want to see the falling price reflected in the petrol pump prices, and we are determined to see that happens.'

Union leaders said oil firms were behaving like 'pigs in a trough'. However, BP said it was not hoarding its profits

Source: Daily Mail