BP Plc, long the laggard among oil supermajors, is emerging as the sector’s top stock during the Iran war as it reaps “exceptional” trading profits and avoids the scale of production outages hurting rivals like Exxon Mobil Corp.

The windfall comes at a crucial time for London-based BP and its new Chief Executive Officer, Meg O’Neill, the company’s fourth leader in six years. BP shares are the sector’s worst performing since a 2020 strategy to invest heavily in low-carbon energy projects and phase out fossil fuels failed to pay off, causing debt to spiral.