RIYADH: Oil majors Shell and BP might see their profits skyrocket to around 40 billion pounds sterling ($54 billion) this year, amid soaring petrol and gas prices.
Last week Shell reported annual profits of 14.3 billion pounds sterling, while BP is expected to announce its 2021 annual pre-tax profits of over 13 billion pounds sterling when it reports on Tuesday, 6 Feb., according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
Shell is Europe’s biggest oil and gas company and is the world’s largest independent producer and trader of liquefied natural gas.
The unexpectedly high profits have triggered calls for a windfall tax on energy firms in a bid to ease the cost of living crisis. The UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, announced last week that energy prices would rise by a record-breaking 54 percent for UK households.
BP indicated that it is on course to make GBP15.5 billion profit in 2022, while Shell is expected to have its annual profits grow to GBP23.6 billion by the end of its fiscal year in June, the Guardian reported citing analysts.
This comes amid some ministers and campaigners urging the government to consider taxing the surpluses of oil producers, to ease the burden of families’ high energy bills.
Shell made $6.4 billion in the final three months of 2021, 16 times more than in the same period of 2020, after oil prices near-doubled to an average of almost $80 a barrel in the quarter and a surge in global gas prices, The Times newspaper reported.
Addressing this, the UK government announced last week a range of measures to limit rising energy bills, including rebates to taxpayers and installment loans.
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