Oil and gas companies reported some of their highest annual profits in history earlier this year, cashing in on gas prices that soared because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But critics say energy giants are indirectly prolonging the war with their record revenues, with some Ukrainian officials even calling for a redistribution of profits to make things right.
All five Western oil majors in Europe and the U.S.—BP, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil—reported record-beating revenue in 2022 as oil and natural gas prices surged to their highest point in a decade. The war helped them rake in $134 billion in excess profits last year, according to one February study from Global Witness, an international NGO focused on human rights abuses and resource exploitation.
