Data suggests eight of the biggest oil companies made more than $700,000 of profit every minute during the spring quarter
Eight of the biggest oil companies made profits of more than £67billion in just three months, amid the war in Iran and the ongoing climate crisis, according to new analysis conducted by The Guardian.
The companies – Aramco, BP, Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil – made more than $700,000 in profit every minute across the spring quarter, as crude oil prices rose to highs of more than $126 per barrel.
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Saudi Aramco generated the highest profits, reporting a 34 per cent increase in its quarterly net income to more than $33billion. Aramco’s carbon emissions are larger than any other company in history – nearly 4.4 per cent of the world’s historic carbon emissions can be attributed to it.
BP also reported substantial quarterly profits of $5.73billion, the highest since the first year of the Russia-Ukraine war.
‘Amassing $5.7 billion (£4.24bn) in profits shows how corporate gains have become entirely divorced from the public good – ordinary people are feeling the heat when it should be the polluters paying the price,’ said Greenpeace political campaigner Angharad Hopkinson.
Record profits have translated to rising prices for consumers on the ground. Petrol prices have averaged nearly 40 per cent higher compared to pre-war rates, while petrol prices rose to their highest in the UK on Monday.
Shell recorded its second-highest quarterly profits ever, while Equinor’s profits soared to $3.2billion – up from $1.8billion in the same period last year.
Profits reported by US companies Chevron and ExxonMobil elicited criticism from Donald Trump, who accused the oil giants of ‘making too much money’ from the Iran war.
‘You know big oil is taking us for a ride when one of their biggest allies, Donald Trump, is telling them to rein their profiteering in,’ said the lead on fossil fuels at Global Witness Patrick Galey.
What impacts do fossil fuels have?
Emissions from large fossil fuel companies have already been linked to fatal hot weather around the world. In a study last September, researchers found the emissions from any one of the 14 biggest companies were individually enough to cause more than 50 heatwaves that would have otherwise been extremely unlikely to occur.
Around 20,000 people are estimated to have died due to extreme temperatures this year alone, including around 3,000 in the UK in May and June. In the UK, May temperatures hit a peak of 35.1°C at Kew Gardens – far higher than the previous record of 32.8C set back in 1922. In June, temperatures reached a high of 37.7°C at Lingwood, Norfolk.
Half of England is officially in drought, and England and Wales reported their driest July on record.
The arid heat across Europe has also led to devastating wildfires in France, Spain, Portugal and Greece – leading to billions of euros in damage and further health impacts. Every year, 1.5 million people have their lives shortened by wildfire smoke.
A major wildfire was even reported in Suffolk in the UK, affecting an area the size of 200 football pitches.
‘Around the world, climate-driven disasters are reaching nightmare proportions. What needs to be done is clear: leave coal, oil and gas behind faster, scale up renewables, and protect people where the impacts are already hitting hardest,’ said UN climate chief Simon Stiell.
