London
DailyExpertNews Business
—
BP’s profits more than doubled in the third quarter of the year, pushing profits for the world’s largest oil and gas companies to record levels, contributing to growing demand in Britain and the United States for higher oil and gas companies. taxes on unexpected profits.
The UK-based energy company posted underlying profit of $8.15 billion from July to September, compared to $3.3 billion a year ago. Profits were boosted by “exceptional” results in gas trading, BP said in a statement on Tuesday.
The result means that Big Oil — BP (BP), Shell, Total (TOT)Energies, ExxonMobil and Chevron (CVX) — made more than $58 billion in profit in the third quarter alone. The record revenues come as a growing number of households in Europe and North America are under pressure from decades-high inflation, driven by rising energy and food bills.
Shareholders, meanwhile, are taking full advantage. BP said it would use excess cash to buy back shares worth $2.5 billion, bringing its total share buybacks this year to $8.5 billion. Shell has spent $18.5 billion this year on share buybacks and has paid juicy dividends on top of that.
“We remain focused on helping solve the energy trilemma – safe, affordable and low-carbon energy,” BP CEO Bernard Looney said in a statement. “We are delivering the oil and gas the world needs today, while at the same time investing to accelerate the energy transition,” he added.
Energy companies have made record profits this year thanks to rising oil and natural gas prices linked to the Russian war in Ukraine.
Last week, Shell reported profits of more than $30 billion for the first nine months of the year – 58% more than in all of 2021, while ExxonMobil set a record profit for the second consecutive quarter.
The unprecedented streak of revenue is fueling renewed calls in Britain and the United States for snap taxes on energy companies to help households struggling to pay rising bills.
On Monday, President Joe Biden accused energy companies of “war profits” and said that if they “didn’t act out of self-interest” and “give the American people a break,” they would “pay a higher tax on their excess profits.” and face higher limitations.”
Biden did not explicitly approve a windfall tax and the details of what he would consider are likely to remain vague, but key congressional Democrats have been pushing several windfall tax proposals targeting oil companies for over a year.
In the UK, Ed Miliband, the opposition Labor Party spokesman on climate change Twitter that BP’s gains are “damaging evidence” of the ruling Conservative party’s failure to charge “a decent windfall”.
Miliband said last week that Shell’s huge quarterly profit is “further proof that we need a decent windfall tax to get the energy companies to pay their fair share”.
The UK government introduced a £5bn ($5.8bn) tax on the snap profits of oil and gas companies in May but has so far rejected calls for it to be extended, although Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has said that he is not against in principle and that nothing is off the table. On the other hand, in September, EU governments agreed on a windfall tax that they hope will bring in $140 billion.
Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden, who will step down at the end of this year, told reporters last week that the sector must work with officials to ensure these taxes are designed properly.
“We need to prepare and accept that our industry is being looked at for raising taxes to fund transfers to those who need it most in these difficult times,” he said.
BP said it expects oil prices to remain high in the fourth quarter due to recent OPEC+ supplies and “ongoing uncertainty over Russian oil exports”. It also expects gas prices to remain “elevated and volatile” due to a lack of supply in Europe “with the outlook heavily reliant on Russian pipeline flows or other supply disruptions.”
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil and gas company, posted a 39% year-on-year profit in the third quarter to $42.4 billion on Tuesday.
“While global crude oil prices were impacted by ongoing economic uncertainty during this period, our long-term view is that oil demand will continue to grow for the remainder of the decade, given the global need for more affordable and reliable energy,” CEO Amin H Nasser said in a statement.
— Phil Mattingly, Betsy Klein, Nikki Carvajal and Maegan Vazquez reported.