President Joe Biden criticized record energy company profits after Shell Plc announced it earned $9.5 billion in the third quarter, raised its dividend and expanded share buybacks.
“That’s more than twice of what they made in the third quarter of last year, and they raised their dividends as well, so the profits are going back in their shareholders instead of going to the pump and lowering the prices,” Biden said at an event in Syracuse, New York.
Biden has repeatedly demanded that oil companies forgo buybacks and dividend increases, calling on them to reduce prices at gasoline pumps for American motorists instead of returning profits to shareholders.
