The last quarter of 2022 ended with an abundance of revenues and profits. Shell, the world’s largest private oil company, said on Thursday that its profit for 2022 was $40 billion (36 billion euros), more than expected and double from a year ago, mainly due to strong revenue growth. associated with gas and liquefied gas (LNG), writes Il Fatto Quotidiano, which is quoted by Rador.

Between October and December, the British group earned 9.8 billion, the second highest quarterly figure in its history. Chief executive Wael Sawan said the results demonstrate “the strength of Shell’s diversified portfolio as well as our ability to deliver energy to our customers in a volatile world”.

Big profits in the pockets of investors, not in renewable energy investments

Despite the record results, Shell has not increased the amount allocated to invest in renewable sources and the development of low CO2 technologies.

After handing out $26 billion to shareholders through 2022, the company announced a new $4 billion share buyback plan starting in April. It’s a way to raise prices and improve the value of the “earnings per share” on which executive bonuses are often based.

Exxon doubled its profits

Two days ago, the American company Exxon announced that it had doubled its profit, which reached 55 billion dollars, the largest profit of the company in its entire history.

Last December, Exxon filed a lawsuit against the European Union to challenge the legality of an additional income tax that applies to a portion of profits to be derived from the effects of the war on energy costs.

Chevron drew the ire of the White House

Another US giant, Chevron, posted a $36.5 billion profit and announced a massive $75 billion buyback plan, drawing the ire of the White House. In fact, the US administration has called for increased investment to increase production and reduce pressure on fuel and gas prices.

British Petroleum will publish results on February 7, followed by French company Total the following day, while Eni’s data will be published on February 22.

Gas prices and, to a lesser extent, oil prices have fallen sharply in recent months. But the development of the geopolitical situation can easily cause further price increases.

Oil companies have more or less the same costs of producing oil and gas, but depending on the quotations, they can sell their products at more or less high prices.

At the same time, they are one of the few companies whose share prices have risen over the past year. Capitalization of Exxon increased by 42%, Shell – by 17%. Chevron registered +26%, and Eni a more modest +2.9%.

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