Shell reports monster profit

By Anders Lorenzen

The green credentials of the oil and gas giant Shell are again under scrutiny as its fossil fuel arm has declared a huge 2022 profit. 

The surge in energy prices, much of it a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has seen the Anglo-Dutch company take its annual profits to $40 billion. 

In the wake of its announcement criticism has also been directed against the UK government for not placing a windfall tax on the wider oil and gas industry.

Investing in climate destruction 

Anger against Shell has been mounting because, even though they’re headquartered in London, they pay very little UK tax, arguing that their operations are elsewhere. In addition, they’re profiting from the arguably two biggest global crises at the moment; the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis.

While Shell is publicly saying they’re investing significantly in clean tech and green energy, their spending in those areas is vastly dwarfed by their investments in oil and gas. Shell’s future energy strategy has natural gas and LNG at its core, with the company even labelling them as ‘climate solutions’. 

The energy giant has also been accused of overstating how much they spend on renewable energy and has faced calls to be investigated and potentially fined by the US financial regulator. During 2022 Shell invested $25bn overall up from $20bn in 2021. The firm spent $12bn on oil and gas projects, compared with $3.5bn on its renewable energy division.

Elena Polisano, Greenpeace UK’s senior climate justice campaigner said: “Shell is profiteering from climate destruction and immense human suffering. While Shell counts their record-breaking billions, people across the globe count the damage from the record-breaking droughts, heatwaves and floods this oil giant is fueling. This is the stark reality of climate injustice, and we must end it. In the first six months of 2022, Shell invested just 6.3% of its £17.1bn profits into low carbon energy – but they invested nearly three times more in oil and gas.”