Shell’s record profits of £32.2bn called ‘obscene’

Oil giant Shell has recorded annual profits of £32.2bn for the first-time last year, the highest amount in its 115-year history.  

This comes off the back of huge energy price increases as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with multiple energy companies reporting record profits.  

Pressure is mounting for energy companies to face an increased windfall tax to help lower bills for customers, with campaigners calling the profits ‘obscene’.  

A windfall was first introduced last year, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt raising the tax in November from 25% to 35% and extending the tax for two years in a bid to raise £14bn.  

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: ‘The announcement of yet another obscene profit for Shell shows the scale of the harm that these companies are inflicting on households and businesses. Oil company bosses and shareholders are being allowed to get even richer by banking huge profits, while normal people are facing enormous energy bills and millions are being forced into fuel poverty.’ 

Shell is often accused of greenwashing for its adverts claiming to invest in renewable energy, while its website avoids any mention of oil, with the homepage reading ‘the UK is ready for cleaner energy.’  

However, a Channel 4 investigation revealed that the company only invested 6.3% of £17.1bn into low carbon energy in 2022.  

Today, non-profit Global Witness has accused the energy firm of investing just 1.5% of capital into renewables, despite company’s report claiming investments worth 12% of capital.  

Aitchison continued: ‘These profit figures are further evidence that our current fossil fuelled energy system is seriously harming people and the climate. Despite this, the Scottish Government’s recent draft Energy Strategy contains very few new steps to tackle the climate crisis or the immediate impacts of the cost of energy crisis. 

‘Ministers should instead chart a clear path away from fossil fuels and towards an energy system that is built on clean, reliable renewables. They must listen to the science which tells us that to meet climate targets in a fair way, fossil fuel extraction needs to be phased out in the next decade.’  

Photo by Keming Tan