Big Oil doubles profits in blockbuster 2022

[groundloop]

Source: Reuters

Big Oil more than doubled its profits in 2022 to $219 billion, smashing previous records in a year of volatile energy prices where Russia's invasion of Ukraine reshaped global energy markets and, in some cases, the industry's climate ambitions.

The profit surge gave the oil companies scope to increase spending on oil and gas projects, and a chance for some to rethink energy transition strategies to meet new demands for security of supply.

The combined $219 billion in profits allowed BP (BP.L), Chevron (CVX.N), Equinor (EQNR.OL), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Shell (SHEL.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) to shower shareholders with cash.

The top Western oil companies paid out a record $110 billion in dividends and share repurchases to investors in 2022, spurring outraged calls on governments to impose windfall taxes on the industry to help consumers with surging energy costs.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/big-oil-doubles-profits-blockbuster-2022-2023-02-08/

[ck4829]

1. Time to share the love?

[CountAllVotes]

2. The cheapest I could find yesterday was ...

$4.79/gallon from some place in town called "Great Gas".

Its all from the same place isn't it? I hope so.

I have a credit card that gives 5% cashback on gasoline so by using that card it was $4.55 a gallon.

Its a good thing I do not drive much isn't it?

[multigraincracker]

4. When pump prices are high,

do not buy one other thing in the station. That would bring prices at the pump down fast.

[CountAllVotes]

6. I never do that

I can't feed the beast any more than I already am.

This is very difficult on people like me. People living on next to nothing!

What a disgrace IMO.

[FredGarvin]

13. Quite the opposite

Gas stations in my area actually have lower gas prices because of their popularity.

Most of their profits are from attracting customers with low gas prices, and mark up their goods.

[IronLionZion]

15. The gasbuddy app is helpful for comparing prices

in my area, prices are lower down side roads away from major commuting routes.

[Botany]

3. Inflation much?

n/t

[Cheezoholic]

5. I know jack about economics

But the inflation reduction act took effect on 1/1/23 so (assuming the article is pointing to US oil business) that 110 billion in buybacks would've generated about 1 billion in tax revenue (at the new 1% excise tax in the act) if it was after 12/31/22. Besides the gross price gouging by these criminal companies was this big buyback partially or maybe even mostly driven to happen in 2022 to avoid the new tax penalty?

[jalan48]

7. And yet, there was Mr. Fossil Fuel, Joe Manchin, warning Biden not to berate Republicans in his

SOTU speech yesterday. Priorities you know.

[Bengus81]

8. That's bad enough,what's WORSE is gas is going UP at the pump

Those gouging fucks along with lots of others are going to run this game all the way through 2023 IMO.

[SouthernDem4ever]

9. The profits proove price gouging

Time for a windfall profits tax.

[IronLionZion]

10. They'll trickle it down to lower prices at the pump real soon

[pandr32]

11. This is obscene.

It is predatory and we are the weakened and hunted for every dollar we have as we need gas to get to work and use energy (often gas or oil) to heat our homes. For what? The money culled from us doesn't wind up back in our communities benefiting us in any way. Most of us are not shareholders or those at the top of these predatory schemes.

[SuperCoder]

12. It's absolute BS...

And truly disgusting...

That we have to have our gas bills raised in December/January from heat yet these dirtbags are raking in profits year after year.

There should be limits (say 1 or 2 percent of an individual's income) of what these greedy a-holes can charge for gas required to heat a home. Rather than being forced to compete with a car payment.

[republianmushroom]

14. just a little greedy.

[Evolve Dammit]

16. Fucking pirates. Obscene is right.

[Initech]

17. I think it's way past time for an excessive profit tax.

Like anything over $10 billion per quarter gets taxed like 75% or higher. Because they don't do anything with the money except store it in offshore bank accounts. This needs to change now.

[MichMan]

20. It would make more sense to base it on profit margin percentages.

Otherwise, companies would be free to gouge people as long as their total profit under some threshold that would only apply to the very biggest.

Like any profit margins over 10% be taxed 75%

[d_b]

18. recouping the pandemic losses

because they can.

[GB_RN]

19. Because...

Of course they did. Greedy bastards.


RepubliCons: Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along...

[The Jungle 1]

21. I still say they were attempting to influence the election.

[C Moon]

22. So when trying to affect elections they even make out big. Quite a scam they got going.

[lastlib]

23. I own some ConocoPhillips stock, here's an indication of how they are profiting:

In 2019, I received $67 in dividends on my shares from them. In 2020 and 2021, that jumped to $88; but since 2022, I have received FIVE *special dividends* in addition to my regular quarterly dividends, and all but one of those special dividends was larger than the regular dividends. In total, since 2021, I have been paid $259, or roughly THREE TIMES the regular dividend amounts. All told, since 2014, I have received over $800 in dividends (and this is on a fairly small number of shares), approximately one-third of it in the past 15 months.

Wanna see something else? The stock hit a low of $33.83 in February 2016; since then, it has appreciated by 260%--a compound annual return of 20.3%; and that is WITHOUT the dividends. With dividends, the total return is 343%, a compound annual return of 24.1%. Not a bad investment.

It would be illuminating, if I had time, to dig out their annual report/10-K, and just see what they reported for income and profit for recent years.

From my personal financial perspective, I'm very happy to see them doing so well. From my social/political perspective, it infuriates me to see them greedily gouging the public on such a massive scale. My problem is reconciling the two......

[Samrob]

24. Gouging is profitable. Lying has its benefits. Greed is a family value for corporate America nt