Rising prices boost Shell and BP.

Oil firms Royal Dutch Shell and BP have made better than expected first quarter profits for 2008 thanks to a barrel of oil now costing nearly $120 a barrel.

Shell made profits of $7.8bn (£3.9bn) in the first three months of the year, up from $6.9bn a year ago. Their arch rival BP saw its own profits rise to $5.588bn (£3.31bn), from $4.4bn.

In January , Anglo-Dutch firm Shell reported annual profits of $27.56bn (£13.9bn) for 2007, a record for a UK-listed company.

In mid-morning trade, shares in both Shell and BP rose 5% on the FTSE.

Oil price moves

The quarterly results come as a strike by oil workers at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland came to an end. The stoppage had disrupted fuel supplies and halted much of the UK's North Sea oil production.

Some petrol stations in Scotland and Northern England had introduced rationing and or raised prices.

The price of oil prices has been rising steadily since January, when it broke through the $100 a barrel mark. This week the cartel of oil producing nations, OPEC, warned that prices could reach $200 a barrel