BP doubles profit after Shell.
Another British multinational oil and gas company, BP, has made a record profit after Shell after selling oil and gas. The company more than doubled its profits last year compared to the previous year. BP’s profit in 2021 was 1,280 million (12.8 billion) US dollars, which increased to 2,770 million (27.7 billion) US dollars last year
Energy companies around the world are making good profits as oil and gas prices rose on the global market after the start of the Ukraine-Russia war last year. Last week Shell, another British multinational, announced record profits. In 2022, Shell made a profit of about US$3,990 billion, double the company’s previous year’s profit and the highest in Shell’s 115-year history.
After the start of the Ukraine-Russia war, many countries and multinational companies are in trouble, but many have benefited. Especially after the start of the war, global fuel prices increased several times. In this, energy sector companies made record profits by selling oil and gas at higher prices for a year. According to the BBC, fuel prices started to rise around the world after the end of restrictions due to the Covid pandemic. However, after the start of the Ukraine-Russia war, the price of fuel has increased abnormally since March last year. At this time, the price of crude Brent oil rose to around $128 per barrel. However, it later fell back to $80 per barrel. Similarly, the price of gas has also come down a lot after an abnormal rise.
However, during this period, the fuel companies sell the fuel at a higher price, which makes the profit. Although energy companies are making record profits, ordinary citizens and businesses in Britain are suffering. Citizens in the country are struggling with rising fuel costs due to inflation. Therefore, they demand that more tax should be imposed on the profits of energy companies. UK oil and gas companies are subject to corporate tax of 30 per cent on their profits. Apart from this, they have to pay 10 percent supplementary tax. However, those who make huge profits are subject to a ‘windfall tax’ on those profits. It was 25 percent for oil and gas companies. But recently it has been increased to 35 percent. As a result, these companies will now have to pay up to 75 percent tax.
