Oil giant Shell has faced criticism after its quarterly profits surged on the back of the Iran war. The FTSE 100 company reported earnings of £7.37 billion for the three months to the end of June, surpassing the £6.59 billion forecast by analysts.
The second-quarter result was more than double the £3.19 billion posted for the same period last year. Shell had already reported profits of £5.18 billion in the first three months of the year, bringing its underlying profits so far to £12.55 billion.
Energy bills and oil price volatility
The announcement comes as UK families continue to face soaring energy bills, with the Ofgem price cap rising by 13% this year. Energy bills are expected to rise again this winter, with no end in sight for the Iran war. Shell has profited from oil price swings, with Brent crude surging as high as $120 a barrel at one stage before dropping to pre-war levels and then back above $90 this week amid fraught US-Iran negotiations.
Campaigner reactions
Greenpeace political campaigner Rudy Schulkind said: "We're running out of words to describe the obscenity of these numbers... Andy Burnham’s Labour government has a choice. It can continue shielding the extraordinary profits of oil and gas giants, or it can make polluters pay by properly taxing these windfalls."
Flossie Boyd, senior campaigner at Global Witness, said: “Shell's bumper profits today are a shocking reminder of who really benefits from our dependence on fossil fuels. “As deadly wildfires tear through France and Spain, and the UK faces unbearable heat, the companies fuelling the crisis continue to rake in billions. Oil companies have spent years reaping the rewards of fossil fuels while shifting the costs of pollution onto the public and the people least responsible for the climate crisis.”
Production challenges and gains
The bumper profits came despite Shell’s Pearl GTL site in Qatar having stopped production in March after being hit during attacks. LNG facilities in the country partly owned by Shell were also affected. However, Shell said production was boosted group-wide thanks to a strong performance at other facilities globally. The group said underlying earnings at its chemicals and products unit – including its oil trading business – jumped to £2.15 billion, up significantly from £141 million a year ago.
Shell chief executive Wael Sawan said: “Shell’s operational performance enabled very strong results during another quarter of severe disruption in global energy markets, as we worked hard to provide critical energy supplies and products to our customers.”
