AFP
NOS News•
The White House is outraged by the annual figures presented by the American oil and gas group ExxonMobil. The company made $56 billion in profit last year. This is the largest annual profit of the energy giant ever and a doubling compared to the profit in 2021.
In a statement, the White House calls the profit margin shocking, because Americans spend a lot of money at the pump for fuel. “The latest earnings figures make it clear that oil companies have what it takes to increase production,” the White House said. “They have permits to increase production. But instead they choose to line the pockets of directors and shareholders.”
The towering profit figures in the oil and energy sector can count on great interest from governments in both the United States and Europe. Last year, the European Union introduced an additional profit tax on the energy sector, something ExxonMobil strongly opposes. The company is trying with lawsuits to get out of that tax.
‘More supply needed’
CEO Woods of the group says that the European proposal is not legally tenable. “It’s the opposite of what’s needed,” he said today. “More supply of oil is needed.” The company was taxed an additional $ 1.3 billion this year, largely due to the extra European levies.
According to the CEO, substantial investments were made in extra production last year. The company states that it has continued to invest before and during the corona pandemic. “We stepped in when others pulled out,” says the CEO. He adds that in the coming years a lot of money will be invested in sustainability projects, such as the capture and storage of CO2.
The company came early this year to be under fire, because it already knew in the 1970s that the use of fossil fuels leads to global warming. In the Netherlands, ExxonMobil and Shell own NAM, which is involved in the extraction of natural gas. The company also has a refinery and various factories in the Netherlands.
Sky-high profits
Other oil companies and energy companies have also done good business. The also American Chevron presented an annual profit of USD 35.5 billion last week, also a doubling compared to 2021. A day before the presentation of the annual figures, Chevron already announced that it will buy back shares for USD 75 billion and that the dividend on shares goes up.
Chevron’s figures also received an angry reaction from the White House, which has asked for price reductions at the pump and an increase in production. “The company says it is working hard on that. But handing out $75 billion to the top and the wealthy shareholders is a strange way to show it,” said a White House spokesman. Incidentally, ExxonMobil also gave a lot of money to its shareholders: more than 29 billion dollars.
President Biden has accused the oil companies of profiting from the war in Ukraine, and is also considering imposing an additional profit tax.
