The second quarter result was also more than double the £3.19billion the group posted for the same period last year
Oil giant Shell has been slammed after its quarterly profits surged on the back of volatile oil prices from the Iran war.
The FTSE 100 giant raked in earnings of £7.37billion for the three months to the end of June – beating the £6.59billion expected by analysts.
The second quarter result was also more than double the £3.19billion the group posted for the same period last year. Shell had already reported profits of £5.18billion in the first three months of the year – taking its underlying profits so far to £12.55billion.
It comes as UK families continue to be hit with soaring energy bills, with the Ofgem price cap rising by 13% this year. Energy bills are expected to rise again this winter, with currently no end in sight for the Iran war.
Drivers have also been hit with higher prices at the pumps, with petrol and diesel prices continuing to go up. RAC data shows the average price of petrol per litre is 159.05p, while diesel is 177.59p.
Shell has profited on oil price swings, with the cost of Brent crude surging as high as $120 a barrel at one stage before dropping top pre-war levels and back up past $90 this week amid fraught negotiations between the US and Iran.
Greenpeace political campaigner Rudy Schulkind said: “We’re running out of words to describe the obscenity of these numbers… Andy Burnham’s Labour government has a choice.
“It can continue shielding the extraordinary profits of oil and gas giants, or it can make polluters pay by properly taxing these windfalls.”
Flossie Boyd, senior campaigner at Global Witness, said: “Shell’s bumper profits today are a shocking reminder of who really benefits from our dependence on fossil fuels.
“As deadly wildfires tear through France and Spain, and the UK faces unbearable heat, the companies fuelling the crisis continue to rake in billions.
“Oil companies have spent years reaping the rewards of fossil fuels while shifting the costs of pollution onto the public and the people least responsible for the climate crisis.”
The bumper profits came despite Shell’s Pearl GTL site in Qatar having stopped production in March after being hit during attacks. LNG facilities in the country partly owned by Shell were also affected.
Shell said its has seen production boosted group-wide thanks to a strong performance at other facilities globally.
The group said underlying earnings at its chemicals and products unit – including its oil trading business – jumped to £2.15billion, up significantly from £141million a year ago.
Shell chief executive Wael Sawan said: “Shell’s operational performance enabled very strong results during another quarter of severe disruption in global energy markets, as we worked hard to provide critical energy supplies and products to our customers.”
