In the past nine months inflation has surged, stock prices have fallen and global growth has stalled. Everyone seems to be hurting — everyone, that is, except oil companies.
While the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed up the cost of fuel, electricity and thousands of other everyday items, fossil fuel producers, and their shareholders, have got richer.
Profits at the largest US oil company, ExxonMobil, tripled in the third quarter to a record of nearly $20bn, bringing its earnings for the year to more than $43bn. Shell, Europe’s largest, has made $30bn this year, including $9.5bn in the three months to September. BP is on course for possibly the most profitable year in its history.