(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc’s natural gas division racked up an “exceptional” third quarter, with sales more than tripling after prices for the fuel soared in energy-starved Europe. 

Adjusted third-quarter profit for the major’s gas and low-carbon energy division umped to $6.24 billion, which is more than the business made in the first nine months of 2021. The result helped BP post its second-highest quarterly profit on record, just as debate grows for more windfall taxes on gas and oil firms to ease the impact of surging energy bills on households and industry. 

BP joined other Big Oil companies, all of which have extensive trading divisions, in benefiting from gas prices that more than quadrupled in Europe over the past year as Russia cut supplies amid its war in Ukraine. That triggered a rush to secure alternatives such as liquefied natural gas, buoying trading profits as fuel from lower-priced regions such as the US was sold to Europe at much higher rates. 

BP brought 125 cargoes of gas to Europe in the past 12 months, an increase of 60%, Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss said in an interview. 

Despite the stellar performance of BP’s gas business, a breakdown of the unit’s figures wasn’t forthcoming. Even after the urging of analysts during Tuesday’s earnings conference call, Auchinloss declined to provide exact details. 

So far this year, LNG cargoes are generating margins of more than $100 million each, compared with less than $1 million in 2020, according to consultancy Accenture. The bonanza shows little sign of slowing with tankers queuing off European ports, either in anticipation of higher prices or stuck in bottlenecks as an unusually mild winter delays the heating season. 

The oil major boosted natural gas production, and sales in the gas segment more than tripled over a year to $8.05 billion, according to the earnings report.

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BP expects global gas prices to “remain elevated and volatile” in the fourth quarter as low supply continues to dog Europe, where the outlook is heavily dependent on Russian pipeline flows or other supply disruptions. 

(Updates with CFO comment in fourth paragraph, analyst call in sixth.)

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