As oil and gas prices continue to rise throughout the globe, oil giant Shell has recorded its greatest quarterly earnings ever.
Nearly three times as much money was earned in the first three months of the year by Shell as in the same period previous year.
However, the company said that withdrawing from Russian oil and gas because of the Ukraine crisis cost them $3.9 billion (£3.1 billion).
There is no windfall tax in the United Kingdom, as BP announced a significant increase in profits on Tuesday.
Oil and gas prices have soared as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Although Russia is a significant exporter, Western countries have promised to reduce their reliance on Russian energy.
Even before the Ukraine conflict, oil prices were on the rise as countries began to recover from the Covid epidemic.
Ben van Beurden, the CEO of oil giant Shell, said the conflict in Ukraine has caused “substantial disruption” to global energy markets.
Uncertainty and the greater costs it entails have a wide-reaching effect.
As a company, we’ve been working with governments, customers, and suppliers to understand the ramifications and provide solutions where we can.
All of Shell’s competitors—including BP and TotalEnergies—have seen an increase in earnings.
A percent of Britain’s gas supply comes from Norway’s Equinor. On Wednesday, Equinor reported record profits.
It was believed that Shell’s earnings would be enormous.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatened interruption and otherwise eventual boycotts of one of the world’s largest energy supplies, the price of oil and gas, which was already high at the end of last year, went even higher.
These results exceeded our high expectations.
Shell must now decide what to do with all of this extra cash.
A total of £4.3 billion was distributed to shareholders, including millions of dollars of pension savers, in the most recent quarter, and the business promises to do the same in so the next three months, according to its annual report.
Oil and gas supplies in the UK are a priority for Shell, which has already pledged to spend between $20 billion and $25 billion over the next decade.
Ministers will keep a close eye on Shell to see whether company keeps its promises.
The only thing preventing UK oil and gas corporations from paying the windfall tax that opposition parties have sought for but that the government has so far refused to implement is the promise of investment.
