Ukraine war: These energy companies are making billions in profits during the crisis

Created: 2022-08-02 17:03

By: Constantin Hoppe

The BP oil refinery in Lingen, Lower Saxony.

The group tripled its profit in the second quarter of 2022.

© Andi Streber/Imago

Oil prices have risen sharply as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

What leads to high energy prices ensures record profits for the corporations.

London - The European energy giants BP, Shell, TotalEnergies and Repsol achieved record results in the second quarter thanks to higher oil prices - they were able to increase their previous year's figures many times over.

This exceeded analyst estimates.

As BP announced on Tuesday (August 2), the sharp rise in oil prices had tripled profits in the second quarter compared to the previous year: the group's profit rose to 9.03 billion euros.

Also for the third quarter, BP expects high prices to “continue” due to the “disruption” of deliveries from Russia and lower inventories.

Thanks to high oil prices, Shell quintupled its profit in the second quarter

In the first quarter from January to March, BP reported a high loss of $20.4 billion due to the withdrawal from Russia.

BP sold its stake in the Russian Rosneft group because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

In Germany, BP operates Aral brand petrol stations and produces Castrol brand lubricants, for example.

Europe's largest oil company Shell brought in the highest result: the group quintupled its profit in the second quarter to 17.7 billion euros.

It is followed directly by the largest oil company in the USA, ExxonMobil, which was able to quadruple its profit to 17.6 billion euros.

High oil prices are driving record profits across the energy industry

The French group TotalEnergies doubled its profit to 5.69 billion euros.

The figures for the Spanish oil company Repsol were similar.

This more than doubled the profit compared to the previous year to 2.54 billion euros.

In Germany, RWE revised its profit forecast sharply upwards and is now expecting a year-end result of 5.0 to 5.5 billion euros - about one and a half times the value previously expected.

Shell and other energy companies made big profits in the second quarter.

© Udo Weitz/EPA FILE/dpa

The oil price, which has risen significantly recently, but also high margins in the refinery business have ensured record profits in the industry.

A barrel of crude oil (159 liters) currently costs around $100.

Taken together, the leading Western oil and gas companies made a profit of 59 billion euros by mid-year.

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Billions in profits for energy companies are causing criticism from consumers

But the high corporate profits also lead to criticism from consumers and politicians.

The first countries such as Italy and Hungary have already introduced an "excess profit tax", Spain, Belgium and Great Britain are planning one.

This is intended to tax higher income from external factors, such as the Ukraine war, more heavily.

In Germany, an excess profit tax is currently being discussed controversially.

While the SPD is in favor of an additional tax for companies, the coalition partner FDP rejects it.

(con with afp and dpa)