Aker BP has reported a record net profit of $537 million for the first quarter of 2022, up from $364 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

“We have never before had a better result than this quarter. The main driver is high oil prices and high gas prices and stable production,” Aker BP’s chief executive Karl Johnny Hersvik told journalists during a webcast on Thursday.

He said the company’s growth ambitions remain firm and added: “With upcoming projects like Noaka and Valhall and King Lear, the planned acquisition of Lundin Energy’s oil and gas business, we are further strengthening our position as a leading exploration and production company and a driving force on the Norwegian continental shelf.”