The world’s largest oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron and Equinor, posted huge profits in the third quarter, benefiting from rising energy costs that fueled worldwide inflation and hit consumers hard .
Oil companies made billions of dollars in profits as prices for crude oil, natural gas and fuels such as gasoline hit record highs during the third quarter. Global supplies remain limited due to production cuts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and market turmoil caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This generates huge profits Criticism of pro-consumer groups in the United States And Europe with high inflation.
US President Joe Biden told oil companies they weren’t doing enough to cut energy costs, while demands emerged in Britain and the European Union to impose more taxes on energy companies’ extraordinary profits.
ExxonMobil, the largest US energy company, posted nearly $ 20 billion in profits, surpassing expectations and the previous record set in the second quarter.
Profits for Exxon, which led record earnings among the top five oil companies in the previous quarter, far exceeded those of its peers Shell and Total Energies in the third quarter by nearly double. Its gains were buoyed by its decision to redouble its focus on fossil fuels as European competitors turned to investments in renewable energy.
Chevron made a profit of $ 11.2 billion, nearly double the $ 6.1 billion in the same period last year.
US oil executives have been careful not to brag about the increase in profits this year, instead emphasizing their companies’ commitments to invest more.
US lawmakers have criticized major oil companies for not doing more to increase production faster in order to counter rising costs for consumers.
Chevron’s global production of 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day this year actually decreased by 100,000 barrels from the same period last year.
The Norwegian Equinor also recorded record profits, driven by the arrival of gas prices in Europe at all-time highs, and the profit of the Italian Eni almost tripled compared to last year, reaching 3.73 billion euros (3.72 billions of dollars).
Strong results from Europe continued after Shell posted a $ 9.5 billion profit on Thursday, putting it on track to break the 2008 record.
