- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
Oil majors face backlash as era of big profits returns
Soaring energy prices have brought massive profits to oil majors -- along with fierce criticism from environmentalists and politicians at a time when consumers are left with rising bills.
US firm ExxonMobil, France's TotalEnergies, and UK giants Shell and BP announced in the past week 2021 profits totalling a whopping $66.7 billion.
It marked a huge turnaround from 2020, when they posted losses as the pandemic emerged, prompting lockdowns that brought the world economy to a grinding halt and caused crude prices to collapse.
But oil and gas prices rallied big time last year, surging to $70 per barrel after briefly sinking into negative territory in 2020.
The main international and US contracts rose to seven-year highs in January and now sit at around $90. Gas prices, meanwhile, hit records in Europe.
"Oil companies benefited from an extraordinary alignment of the planets," said Moez Ajmi, oil industry expert at EY consultancy.
In addition to higher energy prices, energy firms "cleaned up" their assets to only keep the most profitable ones, Ajmi said.
The companies also strengthened their cost-cutting policies which started in a previous price slump in 2014.
A gradual increase in output by OPEC and its allies has also helped.
ExxonMobil went from a $22.4 billion loss in 2020 to a $23 billion profit in 2021.
Shell was $20.1 billion in the green last year after a $21.7 billion loss in 2020.
TotalEnergies went from a historic $7.2 billion loss to a 15-year high profit of $16 billion.
BP's recovery was not as big, going from $20.3 billion in the red to $7.6 billion in the green.
Prices at the pump and utility bills, meanwhile, have gone up for consumers.
- 'Slap in the face' -
BP said the result would allow it to accelerate "the greening" of the company.
But the performances at the companies triggered calls for a windfall tax on the profits of energy firms in the UK.
"These profits are a slap in the face to the millions of people dreading their next energy bill," Greenpeace UK's head of climate Kate Blagojevic said in a statement.
"BP and Shell are raking in billions from the gas price crisis while enjoying one of the most favourable tax regimes in the world for offshore drillers," she said.
"And these are the same companies responsible for pushing our world closer to catastrophic climate change."
Seeking to head off a political storm, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week a package of financial support after the state energy regulator lifted prices.
The opposition Labour Party said it was not enough.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak's "energy plans last week left families more worried than ever," tweeted Labour shadow minister Rachel Reeves after the oil companies published their results.
"It's time for Labour's plan for a one-off windfall tax on oil & gas producers to cut bills."
Sunak rejected the tax idea.
- More profits -
With a presidential election looming in France in April, Green candidate Yannick Jadot spoke out against profits made "on the back of French men and women" while "gas and petrol bills rise for the benefit of shareholders".
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said that if the company paid more to governments, "it would be at the expense of investments, workers or shareholders".
But in apparent move to fend off criticism, TotalEnergies announced this week a discount at the pump in rural areas of France along with a 100-euro voucher for people struggling to pay their gas bills.
Oil majors, however, could be in for another banner year for their bottom lines as analysts forecast prices climbing to $100 per barrel.
"The health crisis appears to be ending, the economic recoveries in China, the United States and Europe don't appear to be flagging, supply continues to be limited due to a lack of oil investments in the past two years and environmental pressure," Ajmi said.
"So, yes, the profit rebound of the oil majors could continue in 2022."
E.Borba--PC