Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., two of the largest energy companies in the world, reported yet another round of enormous quarterly profits thanks to rising natural gas and fuel costs that have pushed up inflation globally and renewed calls for higher taxes on the industry.
Due to the tight global markets and disruption caused by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, four of the top five global oil companies have now released their financial results, totaling nearly $50 billion in net income.
Politicians and consumer advocacy groups have renewed their calls for the companies to pay higher taxes in order to raise money to offset the harm that higher energy prices will cause to individuals, businesses, and the overall economy. This is because of the sheer size of the profits. Additionally, they have criticized large oil companies for not increasing production enough to offset rising fuel and heating costs
In an interview with Reuters, Chevron Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber issued a dire warning: "Taxing production will just reduce it."
With $11.2 billion, the company reported its second-highest profit. However, compared to last year, the company's global production is down so far this year, and other U.S. oil companies have indicated that output in the country's top shale region is already declining.
"If you raise the costs on energy producers, it will decrease investment so that goes against the intent of increasing suppliers and making energy more affordable."
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who earlier this year claimed Exxon made "more money than God," criticized the oil industry this month for not doing enough to lower energy prices.
Hours after Shell on Thursday announced a $9.45 billion quarterly profit and increased its dividend by 15%, Biden claimed the company was abusing its profits.
He stated on Twitter on Friday in response to the CEO of Exxon's statement that "lowering prices for American families is not the same as giving profits to shareholders."
Alok Sharma, the COP26 climate summit's president, suggested on Friday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's administration in the UK consider extending a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
"These are excessive profits, and they have to be treated in the appropriate way when it comes to taxation," Sharma said.
The energy sector "should be prepared and accept" that it will pay higher taxes to support economically disadvantaged areas of society, according to Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden. With a third-quarter profit of more than $9 billion, Shell is on track to break its previous annual profit record of $31 billion, set in 2008.
The largest U.S. major, Exxon Mobil, reported net income of nearly $20 billion for the three months that ended in September, beating forecasts and breaking its previous record set just three months earlier.
Exxon outperformed its rivals Shell and TotalEnergies in terms of overall revenue among the five major oil companies during the quarter.
Even though Exxon has not made the same commitment as its European rivals to increase spending in renewables, its shares have recovered in 2022 after falling behind those of those companies for a number of years. The fifth major, BP Plc , announces results the following week.
"Where others pulled back in the face of uncertainty and a historic slowdown, retreating and retrenching, this company moved forward, continuing to invest," Exxon CEO Darren Woods said.
The five major companies' stock prices have all seen total returns of at least 29% this year. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, Exxon is leading the pack with an increase of 86%, while the broad-market S&P 500's total return is minus-19% on the year.
After Russia stopped supplying the majority of its natural gas exports to the continent, which was its main market, European governments rushed to fill gas storage.
The all-time high in European gas prices helped Norwegian Equinor break new ground on Friday, and Italian Eni nearly tripled its profit from the previous year, beating expectations with earnings of 3.73 billion euros ($3.72 billion). TotalEnergies, a French company, announced a $10 billion record profit on Thursday.
"The Russian war in Ukraine has changed the energy markets, reduced energy availability and increased prices," Equinor Chief Executive Anders Opedal said in a statement.
(Source:www.dawn.com)
Due to the tight global markets and disruption caused by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, four of the top five global oil companies have now released their financial results, totaling nearly $50 billion in net income.
Politicians and consumer advocacy groups have renewed their calls for the companies to pay higher taxes in order to raise money to offset the harm that higher energy prices will cause to individuals, businesses, and the overall economy. This is because of the sheer size of the profits. Additionally, they have criticized large oil companies for not increasing production enough to offset rising fuel and heating costs
In an interview with Reuters, Chevron Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber issued a dire warning: "Taxing production will just reduce it."
With $11.2 billion, the company reported its second-highest profit. However, compared to last year, the company's global production is down so far this year, and other U.S. oil companies have indicated that output in the country's top shale region is already declining.
"If you raise the costs on energy producers, it will decrease investment so that goes against the intent of increasing suppliers and making energy more affordable."
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who earlier this year claimed Exxon made "more money than God," criticized the oil industry this month for not doing enough to lower energy prices.
Hours after Shell on Thursday announced a $9.45 billion quarterly profit and increased its dividend by 15%, Biden claimed the company was abusing its profits.
He stated on Twitter on Friday in response to the CEO of Exxon's statement that "lowering prices for American families is not the same as giving profits to shareholders."
Alok Sharma, the COP26 climate summit's president, suggested on Friday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's administration in the UK consider extending a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
"These are excessive profits, and they have to be treated in the appropriate way when it comes to taxation," Sharma said.
The energy sector "should be prepared and accept" that it will pay higher taxes to support economically disadvantaged areas of society, according to Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden. With a third-quarter profit of more than $9 billion, Shell is on track to break its previous annual profit record of $31 billion, set in 2008.
The largest U.S. major, Exxon Mobil, reported net income of nearly $20 billion for the three months that ended in September, beating forecasts and breaking its previous record set just three months earlier.
Exxon outperformed its rivals Shell and TotalEnergies in terms of overall revenue among the five major oil companies during the quarter.
Even though Exxon has not made the same commitment as its European rivals to increase spending in renewables, its shares have recovered in 2022 after falling behind those of those companies for a number of years. The fifth major, BP Plc , announces results the following week.
"Where others pulled back in the face of uncertainty and a historic slowdown, retreating and retrenching, this company moved forward, continuing to invest," Exxon CEO Darren Woods said.
The five major companies' stock prices have all seen total returns of at least 29% this year. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, Exxon is leading the pack with an increase of 86%, while the broad-market S&P 500's total return is minus-19% on the year.
After Russia stopped supplying the majority of its natural gas exports to the continent, which was its main market, European governments rushed to fill gas storage.
The all-time high in European gas prices helped Norwegian Equinor break new ground on Friday, and Italian Eni nearly tripled its profit from the previous year, beating expectations with earnings of 3.73 billion euros ($3.72 billion). TotalEnergies, a French company, announced a $10 billion record profit on Thursday.
"The Russian war in Ukraine has changed the energy markets, reduced energy availability and increased prices," Equinor Chief Executive Anders Opedal said in a statement.
(Source:www.dawn.com)