BRITAIN’S largest gas supplier announced better-than-predicted £7.2 billion in quarterly profits today as millions of households brace for annual bills to rise to nearly £2,000 from July.

Norwegian oil giant Equinor’s shareholders are expected to earn millions from buybacks and dividends as the three-month period saw its best quarterly pre-tax profits in three years.

Chief executive Anders Opedal predicted the Iran war-driven price gains will continue at least six months after the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is lifted.

Equinor influences Britain’s domestic gas prices through its role in extracting fossil fuels from the North Sea with Shell and a deal with Centrica to import Norwegian gas, End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said.

“These results are a reminder of exactly who gains from the Iran conflict and the UK’s continued dependence on fossil fuels,” he added.

“The companies profiting from global market volatility are the same ones lobbying to lock households into an expensive and volatile energy system for decades to come, meaning profits flow to their executives and shareholders.

“What will make a real difference is breaking the link between electricity prices and gas markets, accelerating home insulation and clean heating while ensuring that the billions in profits made during this crisis are taxed and used to provide proper support for the households who need it most.

“That is the only route out of this continuous energy crisis.”

Life-sized body bags were also piled outside Equinor’s London offices in a protest over its “oily blood money” by Fossil Free London activists on Tuesday.

Uplift executive director Tessa Khan added: “Once again, oil giant Equinor, the UK’s biggest gas supplier, is raking in huge profits from a conflict that’s pushing up bills for everyone else.

“Like BP last week, these are unearned windfall profits driven by Trump’s war with Iran. Yet the industry still has the audacity to lobby the UK government for huge tax cuts.”

She slammed Equinor’s plans to develop the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea, saying it “would be a terrible deal” for Britain.

The project wouldn’t lower domestic bills as most of the oil would be exported, she said, adding that it would likely see Britain breach its climate commitments.