Eight of the largest oil companies made nearly 93 billion dollars in profit from April to June, while the Iran War continued and heat waves created problems for people and animals in Europe and other regions. This is stated in a report prepared by the British newspaper «Guardian» based on an analysis of the companies’ quarterly performance.
The total profit of these companies nearly doubled compared to the same period last year, when it was nearly 50 billion dollars. According to «Guardian», eight oil companies — Saudi Aramco, BP, Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil — received over 700,000 US dollars in profit per minute during the spring quarter. Their total market capitalization increased by approximately 600 billion dollars, exceeding three trillion dollars.
Impact of the conflict and environmental footprint
This quarter was the first full one after the US and Israel started the Iran War, which led to an increase in global oil prices to over 126 dollars per barrel. According to the report, the state Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco benefited the most during the spring quarter. Its profit over these three months increased by 34 percent, exceeding 33 billion US dollars, despite damage to Saudi Aramco‘s infrastructure due to attacks by drones and rockets from Iranian and Houthi forces. However, the increase in oil and fuel prices caused by the war had an even stronger impact on profits.
According to the «Carbon Majors» database, Saudi Aramco is responsible for more CO₂ emissions than any other company in history, followed by Chevron and ExxonMobil. Shell and BP are also among the top ten polluters. A study published last fall in the scientific journal «Nature» showed how responsible oil companies are for heat waves. According to calculations, human-induced climate change significantly increased the likelihood and intensity of heat waves in 2000–2023. Approximately a quarter of the documented events since 2000 would likely not have occurred without climate change, the report notes. The 14 largest sources of CO₂ and methane emissions are responsible for 30 percent of climate emissions. The research group includes Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, ExxonMobil, Chevron, National Iranian Oil Company, BP and Shell.
BP’s strategic turnaround and climate responsibility
The new chair of the board of BP, Meg O’Neill, defended the company’s profits, stating that the company is focused «on what we can do to help cope with the situation», for example, producing scarce petroleum products. Last year, BP announced a radical change in strategy and sharply reduced its spending on renewable energy. Since then, BP has again focused on fossil fuels. Currently, BP intends to sell its biogas business in the US, Archaea, which the concern acquired only in 2022 for 4.1 billion dollars.
Source: Der Spiegel
