British oil giant Shell’s profit hit a record on Thursday. It received a boost from a sharp rise in fossil fuel prices and strong demand since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
Shell reported adjusted revenue of $39.93 billion for 2022. That’s comfortably up from $28.45 billion in 2008. Shell broke the firm’s previous annual record and more than doubled the firm’s 2021 total profit of $19.28 billion.
Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected a 2022 net income of $38.34 billion.
In the last quarter of 2022, Shell reported an adjusted profit of $9.85 billion.
Moreover, Shell announced a $4.5 billion share buyback program expected to end with first-quarter 2023 results published in early May and a 15.5% increase in dividends per share in the fourth quarter.
The results follow historic annual profits for US oil majors Exxon and Chevron, with the West’s biggest oil and gas companies expected to post a joint profit of about $200 billion for the year.
The scale of the industry’s earnings has sparked renewed criticism and led to calls for a tax on big oil’s windfall profits.
Shell said last month that new taxes in the EU and the UK would bring in $2 billion in the final three months of 2022.
Europe Now, Shutdown of Russian Gas
Europe weathered the natural gas supply crisis and avoided a worst-case supply scenario thanks to measures taken. Demand for gas has decreased significantly in Europe, including Hungary.
The international credit rating agency said record volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have become available, and storage capacity is filling up, meaning Europe can weather the impact of Russian gas cuts this year. Abundant LNG inflows, reduced demand, and a mild winter have helped avoid forced rationing of gas supplies and have already eased tensions in the gas market last year.
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