LONDON (AFP) - British oil and gas giant BG Group, hoping to get its hands on Australia's Origin Energy, said on Thursday that its net profit had soared 68 percent in the first-half as the price of crude rocketed.

Profit after tax jumped to 1.514 billion pounds (1.927 billion euros, 3.024 billion US dollars) in the six months to June 30 compared to 903 million pounds for the same period in 2007.

The company, whose operations extend from Norway to Brazil, added in a statement that group revenue shot up by 54 percent to 6.312 billion pounds in the first half.

During the first six months of 2008, the price of crude oil breached 100 dollars a barrel for the first time and went on to reach as high as 143 dollars.

The current record high stands at 147.50 dollars a barrel, which was set by Brent North Sea crude oil on July 11. New York's light sweet crude had struck a historic peak of 147.27 dollars on world markets the same day.

BG Group, which also benefited from surging gas prices during the first half, recently launched a hostile takeover bid for Origin Energy worth 13.1 billion US dollars.

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