/ world today news/ The largest energy corporations in the West are warming their hands well in the sanctions war against Russia
It has long been clear that anti-Russian sanctions like a “boomerang” hit the economies of Western countries as well. This was expressed in a sharp increase in inflation, a reduction in the already low rates of economic development and an obvious decline in the real incomes of citizens.
According to OECD data, at the end of 2022, the income of the population as a whole for 38 OECD member countries decreased by 3.8%. This is the maximum drop for the entire period of keeping these calculations. The most significant decrease is in the USA – by 6%.
In some countries, GDP growth over the past year was merely symbolic. Thus, in the USA the increase is only 1.8%. For 2023, the OECD gives forecasts according to which in many countries they will be slightly above zero, Germany’s GDP will decrease by 0.3%, Great Britain’s GDP by 0.2%.
The sanctions boomerang also led to an increase in bankruptcies. In the European Union, there were 24.2% more bankruptcy filings in 2022 than in 2021.
Until recently, there was the impression that in the countries of the collective West, everyone suffered in one way or another from the sanctions boomerang, that in fact there were almost no beneficiaries, with the exception of the companies from the military-industrial complex.
In March, however, the financial statements of large and largest Western companies began to appear, from which it is clear that the circle of Western beneficiaries of the sanctions war is wider than we thought. Fuel and energy corporations deserve special attention.
Such peer reviews have appeared before. “Vedomosti” noted in December last year: against the background of the energy crisis in the West, the revenue (sales) of the 40 largest fuel and energy corporations in the USA, Canada and Europe in 2022 will exceed $3.6 trillion In 2021 .this figure is equal to $2.4 trillion, and the growth will be 48%. In the Top 40, net income should increase from $174 billion in 2021 to $336 billion, nearly doubling.
In January, Bloomberg quoted its sources as saying that last year Exxon Mobil Corp (US), Chevron Corp (US), Shell (UK-Netherlands), Total (France) and BP (UK) made a profit of 198.7 billion dollars, which is 50% more than the previous annual record set more than 10 years ago.
And that day the media resource “Equality. Media” published the results of the activity of 50 leading Western corporations in the energy sector. Corporations from Australia, Japan and South Korea have been added to the top 40 list that appeared in the Vedomosti publication.
And the top ten (by revenue) were: 1) Exxon Mobil Corp, 2) Shell, 3) Total, 4) BP, 5) Chevron Corp, 6) Marathon Petroleum, 7) Valero Energy, 8) Phillips 66, 9 ) Equinor , 10) Eni . The five figures in the top ten are American corporations (numbers: 1,5,6,7,8). The remaining five are European.
The top 50 energy corporations in the West increased their revenue from $2.6 trillion in 2021 to $3.9 trillion in 2022. That’s a 46% increase. Net earnings of the top 50 increased from $187 billion to $387 billion, or 102%. In other words, the profit has doubled.
All players in the top 10 have increased their market capitalization. As of December 31, 2021, the total capitalization of the top 10 was $2.07 trillion. As of December 31, 2022, it increased to $2.69 trillion, or 30%.
Leaders by capitalization are the American Exxon Mobil ($472 billion) and Chevron ($323 billion). The increase in the capitalization of the two American giants was very impressive: by 82% and 43%, respectively. Which is much higher than the average increase in the top 10. More detailed figures are not difficult to find on the Internet.
The largest energy corporations of the West managed very well to “warm their hands” in the sanctions war against Russia.
It seemed to us that companies from OPEC countries and Russia profited handsomely from the energy crisis caused by anti-Russian sanctions. Really? Saudi Aramco is considered the largest oil corporation in OPEC. At the end of last year, its net income stood at $161.1 billion, up from $110.0 billion in 2021. Growth of 46%. Very good dynamics. But after all, the profit of the Western top 50 doubled last year.
We believe that Russian energy companies also reported record numbers last year. Gazprom’s revenue in 2022 has increased by 25%: from 6.4 to 8 trillion rubles. At the same time, net profit fell from 2.7 to 0.75 trillion rubles. Rosneft’s revenue in 2022 increased by 3% (up to 9 trillion rubles), profit – by 8% (up to 0.9 trillion rubles). Russian companies look very modest against the background of the top 50 Western corporations.
It was not the corporations from the OPEC countries and Russia that profited from the energy crisis, but Western business, especially American corporations. As noted in the information on “Equality. Media”, “American corporations earn more, 27 fuel and raw material giants increased their net profit by 137%, and European ones by 60%.
The profitability of the former increased to 12.1%, and in Europe – to 7.7%. For comparison, last year Gazprom’s profitability was 9.3%, while Rosneft’s was 9.0%. Slightly higher than that of European, but lower than American energy corporations.
American corporations gained last year mostly at the expense of Europe. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the American “liquefied natural gas is supplied to Europe at prices four times higher than those for domestic consumption by industrialists in the United States”. And US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, speaking at the Ceraweek energy conference in Houston, Texas in March, noted that the US has significantly strengthened its position as a global exporter of energy resources over the past year.
According to experts, last year the European Union suffered financial losses due to the purchase of energy resources at a higher price in the amount of over 1 trillion euros. Most of these funds have flowed overseas.
Some experts believe that after the final expulsion of Russian oil and Russian gas from Europe, stable high prices will be established on the European energy market. The European market will be divided between the American and European energy giants based on a cartel arrangement. There was once the Seven Sisters oil cartel, and it was active all over the world. For a time he disappeared from view, but now he has awakened and is ready to once again seize the countries of the Old World in his pincers.
The oil corporations of the West are clearly the main beneficiaries of the sanctions war against Russia. Perhaps they are not only the beneficiaries but also the initiators of this war.
Translation: ES
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