Oil and gas companies Shell and TotalEnergies have again made big profits during the gas crisis. For example, British Shell managed to make a profit of 6.7 billion dollars last quarter. TotalEnergies France doubled its profits to nearly ten billion dollars.

For both companies, this is a significant leap forward compared to 2021. For Shell, profits were somewhat lower compared to the previous quarter, when it booked a hefty profit of USD 18 billion. Even so, the community still benefits from rising energy prices, thanks in part to government intervention, for example lowering fuel prices to keep demand high.

The gains are good for Shell, as it plans to buy more new shares. More than four billion dollars spent on this to reward shareholders. In addition, the company also wants to increase dividends for shareholders. There is a lot of discontent in England about the high profits. That is why the government has also introduced the so-called ‘fortune tax’, which must be used to reduce excess profits.

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Don’t spend a penny on fortune taxes

With the extra money, the UK wants to support households during the energy crisis. The problem, though, is that Shell didn’t have to spend a penny on the new tax measure last quarter. This is because of the ‘substantial investment’ the company has made into energy production in the North Sea, so there is no ‘fortune tax’ to pay. Also in the current quarter, Shell doesn’t expect to spend any money on this new tax.

Big profits are good for TotalEnergies too. As the profits have doubled compared to last year’s quarter, it can provide additional rewards to shareholders. The French company has announced that shareholders will receive a dividend of 1 euro per share in December.

Read also | The excess profits of energy-producing companies are up to 2 trillion euros

The entire energy sector is currently benefiting from extremely high prices, which are generating record profits. A report from the International Energy Agency showed that the excess profits of all energy producing companies amounted to more than 2 trillion euros.