'One of the Corporate Scandals of Our Times': Shell Posts Record $10 Billion in Profits

The British oil behemoth Shell reported a record $9.6 billion in first-quarter profits on Thursday and announced $4 billion in stock buybacks, prompting fury from environmentalists and progressive lawmakers who say the fossil fuel industry's profiteering is grotesque amid a worsening climate emergency and cost-of-living crises across Europe.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan—who recently declared that the "world will need oil and gas for a long time to come" and called fossil fuel production cuts "unhealthy"—hailed his company's "strong results and robust operational performance" and touted the new share buyback program as "part of our commitment to deliver attractive shareholder returns."

Climate advocates reacted with disgust to Shell's earnings announcement, which came days after BP posted nearly $5 billion in profits for the first three months of 2023. Even though oil prices have fallen from their recent highs, the two companies benefited from high trading profits and liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales.

"The scale of profiteering displayed today by Shell and earlier this week BP is one of the corporate scandals of our times," Sharon Graham, general secretary of the U.K.-based Unite union, said in a statement Thursday. "And this is practically untouched by [British Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak's so-called windfall tax."

"It's time to consider something way beyond a windfall tax," Graham argued. "Unite research has found that if the U.K. had a Norwegian tax take, we would be earning at least £30 billion more from the North Sea [petroleum production] than we are now. Not taking any action against 'Big Oil' means the profiteering plundering will continue without end."

British MP Jeremy Corbyn, an ex-Labour Party leader, echoed that message on Twitter, writing that political leaders face a straightforward choice: "Protect fossil fuel profits or protect the future of our planet."

"I choose the future of our planet," Corbyn added. "We need a Green New Deal that transforms our economy, creates secure jobs, and provides publicly owned renewable energy for all."

Shell has remained committed to boosting fossil fuel production even as the international scientific community warns that a rapid phaseout of dirty energy will be necessary to avert further climate devastation.

According to internal Shell documents published in late March, the company knew about the destructive impacts of oil and gas in the 1970s—well earlier than previously known—and still plowed ahead with fossil fuel production. Shell and other oil giants have also recently been accused of misleading the public about their commitments to reducing planet-warming carbon emissions.

"As temperatures soar from Madrid to Mogadishu, Shell is once again posting bumper profits while promising to keep extracting fossil fuels for years to come," Charlie Kronick, senior program adviser at Greenpeace U.K., told The Guardian on Thursday. "Millions around the world are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis and it's those who did the least to cause it who are paying the heaviest price."

"The U.K. government should stop issuing new oil and gas licenses and force Shell and the rest of the industry to start using their obscene profits to pay for the damage that their fossil fuel habit is causing to lives and livelihoods around the world," Kronick added.