Common Dreams
Amid Climate Crisis, Shell’s Financial Windfall Is Profiteering At Its Most Grotesque
Oil giant Shell has just posted record profits for a second consecutive quarter, smashing its previous record from earlier this year.
Shell posted adjusted earnings of a staggering USD 11.5 billion for the second quarter of this year, beating the USD 9.1 billion from the first three months of 2022.
Europe’s largest oil group was boosted by the sky-rocketing energy prices caused by the Ukraine war.
This means in the first six months of this year the oil giant has earnings of over USD 20 billion. This is profiteering at its most greedy and grotesque.
Ironically, the company even produced less oil than in the first quarter, but raked in record profits due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
What it is doing with these record profits is also interesting. In a move that surprised many analysts, the company said it was putting USD 6 billion of these profits into a share buyback scheme, which rewards shareholders. This fact was not lost on the company’s critics, who pointed out that the company was enriching itself and shareholders and not investing in renewables.