NEW YORK, 13 Feb 2023:
Large oil companies made more than US$200 billion in net profits in 2022, a year marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, climate change-related disasters and heavy dependence on fossil fuels.
While not knowing how Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, has ended the year, the main companies in the sector have doubled the profits recorded in the year before, according to Efe’s calculations.
“Their profits are a windfall of war,” US president Joe Biden said last week, criticising oil giants for prioritising monetary rewards over investing in increasing national production to keep gasoline prices low.
Among the 10 big oil firms are Texas-based ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, California-based Chevron Corporation and Florida-based NextEra Energy.
Despite the deterioration caused by halting its operations in Russia in the wake of the war, ExxonMobil hit a record of US$55.7 billion in profits last year.
Shell company has made the highest profits in its 115-year history, with US$42.3 billion in earnings.
Chevron, the second-largest oil producer in the US, ended 2022 with US$35.4 billion, a 127% increase compared to 2021.
Equinor, Norway’s main energy company, reported US$28.7 billion dollars in profits, up 235% from the year before.
French giant TotalEnergies made US$20.5 billion, a 28% jump in profits.
ConocoPhillips has also improved its annual net profits, going from US$8 billion in 2021 to US$18.6 billion in 2022.
Aramco is set to publish its profits on March 12 amid expectations the Saudi Arabian company will break records because it has accumulated US$130.3 billion until the third quarter of 2022.
Spanish oil companies Repsol and Cepsa will release their results in the coming days.
– EFE