Activists call surging oil and gas profits ‘horrifying’ as energy giants post profits twice as high as 2025 |
Activists call surging oil and gas profits ‘horrifying’ as energy giants post profits twice as high as 2025
If drivers saddled with pricey fees at the pump have been one of the biggest economic losers of the war in the Middle East, the companies selling that gasoline have emerged as the conflict’s clear winner.
In mid-March, when the war was only two weeks old, market capitalization at the world’s six largest energy firms had surged a combined $130 billion, the Guardian calculated. But it took some companies reporting first quarter earnings this past week to nail down just how much hard cash the conflict has generated for oil giants.
On Tuesday, BP, one of the U.K.’s largest energy companies, reported $3.2 billion in profits over the first three months of the year, more than double the $1.38 billion in profits the company announced over the same period last year. With the Strait of Hormuz still impassable and one-fifth of the world’s petroleum still locked up in the Persian Gulf, oil and gas giants have been reaping rewards from the supply crunch, sparking rebukes and criticisms from environmental and advocacy groups in the process.
“It is horrifying to see BP’s profits grow as millions suffer the fallout from the U.S.-Israel war on Iran,” Patrick Galey, head of investigations at campaigning outfit Global Witness, said in a statement responding to the company’s results.
BP did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
BP was one of the first oil and gas companies to announce quarterly results, but other energy firms are in line to report similar numbers. Shell, BP’s main domestic........