Shell Shocked!: Oil Companies Make Big Profits From Putin’s War In Ukraine

WHEN it comes to environmental news, there are always surprises. Unfortunately some are not nice.

Shell, the oil and gas giant, has reported outrageous annual profits of $39.9 billion in 2022.

These figures are the highest ever recorded in Shell’s 115-year existence.

Frankly, this corporate greed leaves me feeling sick.

Energy prices skyrocketed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, households are struggling with escalating prices and having to make some very tough decisions.

Heat your house or eat? Scandalous.

Governments have talked about levying taxes on windfall profits. This at first glance seems like a sensible approach……. until you see how small these taxes are.

The UK government billed Shell a windfall tax in 2022 of $134 million.

How does that sit with profit of $39? 9 billion? Funny.

And it gets worse when you remove the layers. Shell is a UK based company. It pays more to its shareholders than it spends on renewable investments. How can that be correct?

In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have indicated that there are no plans to increase the windfall tax.

And they allow corporate giants like Shell to avoid constantly paying taxes. They allow them to offset taxable profits for things like decommissioning of North Sea oil rigs.

They should be taxed for the lack of investment in renewable solutions…particularly wind and solar.

It is criminal for fossil fuel companies that make windfall profits to be let loose.

I’m not the biggest fan of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, but he hit the nail on the head last week when he declared, “No company should be making this kind of outrageous profit from Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

Green projects drive economic growth

Investing in renewable technologies is not only the right moral choice, but also makes economic sense.

The CBI released a report last week claiming that 840,000 jobs have been created through investment in the fight to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

And that’s just in the UK.

In the United States, landmark legislation called the Cut Inflation Act has set aside $369 billion to address climate change.

It was time for Spain and other so-called developed countries to pull out their finger.

Martin Tye is the owner of the power switch company. Butterfly Energy. Contact him at +34 638145664 or write to martin@mariposaenergia.es

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