BP and Shell reported massive profit increases following a surge in global oil prices triggered by disruptions to supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route carrying around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
BP's quarterly profit in the first full quarter of the Iran conflict
Shell’s half-year profits surged 70% to £12.6bn, marking its strongest quarterly performance in four years, with the company citing the impact of the US-Iran conflict. Saudi Aramco announced a 44% increase in profits.
BP’s latest figures covered the first full quarter of the Iran conflict. The company also reaffirmed its commitment to expanding fossil fuel production, reversing earlier plans to reduce oil and gas output.
Greenpeace accused fossil fuel companies of profiting excessively from the conflict, with campaigner Angharad Hopkinson stating BP’s £4.24bn profit showed corporate gains had become entirely divorced from the public good.
Ordinary people are feeling the heat when it should be the polluters paying the price.
We're running out of words to describe the obscenity of these numbers.
Rudy Schulkind linked the profits to wildfires across Europe, devastating floods in Asia, and the UK’s driest July on record, with around half of England officially in drought.
In Germany, Greenpeace calculated that mineral oil companies booked excess profits of €31.4 million per day in July, with cumulative excess profits reaching €3.94 billion by the end of the month. The group attributed the gap between crude oil prices and retail fuel prices to expanded profit margins, not supply constraints.
Greenpeace based its analysis on comparing crude oil prices with retail diesel and petrol prices in Germany, noting that refinery supply remained unproblematic. Environmental groups, including Oxfam and the German Greens, are calling for an EU-wide excess profits tax, while several countries have already planned similar measures.
Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Danny Gross urged UK political leaders to reject the Rosebank oil project and instead strengthen windfall taxes on oil and gas companies, using the revenue to accelerate the transition to cleaner, cheaper energy.
