BHP banks surging profits while receiving over half a billion dollars in diesel rebates

Mining giant BHP has reported an after-tax profit of US$9.83 billion (A$13.8 billion) – a 9% increase on the previous year – while at the same time pocketing around A$548 million in fossil fuel subsidies under the Fuel Tax Credit (FTC) Scheme, analysis of the annual financial results released today show.

Despite acknowledging that “diesel displacement is the largest lever” it has to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions, BHP's diesel use has increased year-on-year. Calculated on an equity basis using data from BHP’s FY26 Annual report, the amount of diesel BHP used across its operations increased from 1.23 billion litres in 2024/25 to 1.25 billion in 2025/26 - enough to fill 500 olympic swimming pools.

As a result, BHP will receive an estimated $548 million in Fuel Tax Credits from the federal government for FY26.

This is less than the estimated $622 million BHP claimed in 2024/25 – but that reduction does not reflect any reduction in diesel use, rather it is a result of the federal government's decision to halve the fuel excise in response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz: with less excise paid in the first place, there is slightly less to refund to the miner. Had the Fuel Excise rate not been discounted, BHP would have received an estimated $648 million in fuel tax credits in 2025/26.

BHP remains comfortably the largest recipient of Fuel Tax Credits in the country.

Climate Integrity Executive Director Claire Snyder said the figures showed a policy in urgent need of reform.

"Half a billion dollars in fuel tax credits flowing to a company posting a $13.8 billion profit is a policy failure. The Fuel Tax Credit scheme was never designed to subsidise the world's largest mining companies while they delay decarbonising their fleets. It's time for reform."

"BHP itself says diesel displacement is the single biggest lever it has to cut emissions – and yet its diesel use keeps climbing. It's hard to see why it would move any faster while taxpayers are quietly picking up half a billion dollars of their fuel bill every year."

“We need policy pulling in the same direction – aligned toward a rapid energy transition that a liveable planet and functioning economies depend on. Instead, the Fuel Tax Credit scheme is paying a highly profitable multinational miner to stick with diesel. This is an incoherent policy, and it needs to be fixed."

Further reading:Conflicting Signals: How diesel rebates to big polluters are undermining the Safeguard Mechanism