(London) The British hydrocarbon giant Shell announced on Thursday that it had made the highest annual profit in its history in 2022, totaling 42.3 billion dollars, more than doubled over one year and boosted by high hydrocarbon prices.
Like other major oil companies, Shell saw its earnings boosted by the rebound in demand, which had fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the drop in Russian exports in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
This announcement by Shell comes on the heels of American oil companies ExxonMobil, which on Wednesday announced a record profit of 55.7 billion dollars in 2022, and Chevron, which last week published an annual net profit more than doubled to 35.5 billion. of dollars.
Shell’s adjusted net profit (ie excluding exceptional items), the ratio most followed by Shell analysts, stood at 39.9 billion dollars last year.
This is the highest annual profit ever made by Shell, a spokeswoman for the group told AFP, indicating in a press release that it had seen its income boosted in particular by “higher prices and “.
In the fourth quarter alone, net profit rose 54% to $10.4 billion, driven in particular by liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices.
The group announces a $4 billion share buyback program as well as a 15% increase in the dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. In total, Shell is distributing $26 billion to its shareholders for 2022.
These results “demonstrate the strength of Shell’s differentiated portfolio, as well as our ability to provide vital energy to our customers in a volatile world,” said Shell’s new chief executive Wael Sawan, who replaced Ben. van Beurden on 1er January.
But these record profits are also fueling criticism from environmental organizations and calls for the oil giants to do more to tackle the climate crisis.
“Shell is profiting from climate destruction and immense human suffering,” said Elena Polisano of Greenpeace UK in a statement, saying world leaders “should force historic mega-polluters to contribute” to a fund “for losses and the damage caused by the climate crisis”.
The British government introduced in May, then increased at the end of the year to 35%, a tax on exceptional energy profits, as did the EU which adopted a “temporary solidarity contribution” at the end of September.