Pity poor Shell, the oil and gas giant that couldn’t quite price-gouge its way into yet another record-breaking quarter of profits. Reuters reports that Shell didn’t reach the same heights as the gains it reported in the second quarter of the year, when it boasted $11.5 billion in profits. Instead, it hit its second-highest quarter of profits ever, raking in only $9.45 billion in the third quarter. With more than $30 billion in profits for 2022, Shell is poised to beat its 2008 record of $31 billion in annual profits.
For its efforts in absolutely screwing consumers but enriching itself, Shell has vowed to repurchase $4 billion in stocks, adding to the $9.5 billion in stock buybacks it’s already spent this year. Shell’s shares have skyrocketed thanks, in part, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, residual effects of the ongoing pandemic, and the fossil fuel industry’s brazen greed. Shell isn’t an outlier, either: Exxon, Chevron, and BP are also benefitting from the “right” conditions. This industry is quite literally killing us and laughing about it all the way to the bank.
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News of Shell’s profits and stock buybacks comes shortly after President Biden signaled to oil companies that he wanted them to do the exact opposite of what they’ve continued to do in pursuit of profits. “You should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends. Not now. Not while a war is raging,” Biden said during a White House speech last Wednesday:
“You should use those record-breaking profits to increase production and refining. Invest in America for the American people. Bring down the price you charge at the pump to reflect what you pay for the product. You still make a significant profit. Your shareholders will still do very well. And the American people will catch the break they deserve and get a fair price at the pump as well.”
Watchdog group Accountable.US believes “the oil industry have been waging war on American consumers this year” but wasn’t exactly shocked by this latest quarter’s profits. “It is no surprise that their continued price gouging results in ridiculous profit margins,” Accountable.US Director of Energy and Environment Jordan Schreiber said. “Shell’s bad-faith rhetoric is exposed when instead of providing badly needed price relief, they opted to spend over $9 billion to enrich their wealthy shareholders.”
It doesn’t have to be like this, so long as the U.S. steps up and holds polluters accountable. Call on Congress to pass a windfall profits tax.
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The 2022 midterms are just around the corner, and you sent us a ton of fantastic questions for this week’s episode of The Downballot. Among the many topics we cover: which states are likely to report results slowly—and how will those results change over time; the House districts that look like key bellwethers for how the night might go, and which might offer surprises; why and how Democrats make the hard decisions on which races to triage; the top legislative chambers to keep an eye on; and plenty more!