The Windfall Has Reignited Calls for Supermajors Like Saudi Aramco and BP to Pay for Environmental Damage and Fund a Renewable Transition

A Guardian analysis found the firms — Aramco, BP, Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil — made over $700,000 in profit every minute during the spring quarter, nearly doubling their $50bn haul from the same period last year. Their market valuations swelled by about $600bn to above $3tn. Aramco led with a 34% rise in quarterly net income to over $33bn, despite drone and missile strikes on its infrastructure.

BP reported quarterly profits of about $5.73bn, its highest since the first year of Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine and more than double the previous quarter's $2.5bn. "BP's sky-high profits are a scandalous reminder of who's been cashing in on human misery this year, said Patrick Galey of Global Witness. "It's time to make oil giants pay up to repair the climate breakdown they're driving.

Rosie Downes of Friends of the Earth said millions of households are "paying the price through sky-high energy bills and a climate crisis accelerating rapidly out of control. BP's new chief executive, Meg O'Neill, defended the profits, saying the company was "focused on the things we can do to try to help address the situation. BP has cut its annual energy transition budget from $5bn to $1.5bn-$2bn since dropping its environmental ambitions last year.