Shell etc

Soldato
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If profits have gone up three fold what cost increase has driven that?! Or is it just profiteering? How much would high street petrol be if they kept profits to a simple inflation matching level.
BTW I failed economics at University
 
Caporegime
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Cost of product due to supply and demand.

Supply down globally.
Costs for extraction probably a small increase.
Cost of commodity on the market massively up.
 

fez

fez

Caporegime
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If profits have gone up three fold what cost increase has driven that?! Or is it just profiteering? How much would high street petrol be if they kept profits to a simple inflation matching level.
BTW I failed economics at University

Its profiteering. Plain and simple. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either making bank from them or is so delusional about free market economics that they couldn't possible see a situation where a company squeezing every penny from the consumer is a bad thing.

Utter scumbags and they will get away with it like they always do.

"Oh that money is for....the future and making sure that renewables are prioritised and stuff.
 
Soldato
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Government would rather squeeze the middle/low earners than upset the mega rich and the shareholders, got to keep their mates happy..

They need taxing more in light of the mega profits they keep posting!
 
Caporegime
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They are buying back their shares with 4.5 billion pounds of it and increasing the dividend to shareholders, those are some great investments there that Johnson doesn't want to jeopardise, that's really going to help with the cost of living (maybe for rich shareholders):

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/05/shell-profits-windfall-tax

What about all the investments into Hydrogen they are making? The money has to come from someplace.

Whilst massive increase in profits at the expensive of the population is obtuse all the money isn't flowing into the back pockets of the already rich.
 
Soldato
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What about all the investments into Hydrogen they are making? The money has to come from someplace.
It's tiny compared to what it should be, I don't trust the fossil fuel companies and believe it's a smokescreen given they keep increasing their fossil fuel investments and buying off politicians (clean energy investments are a miniscule fraction of these and it's a joke). Irrespective of this the article states that BP's CEO admitted that a windfall tax would not threaten any of the £18 billion of UK investments they have planned.
 
Caporegime
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What about all the investments into Hydrogen they are making? The money has to come from someplace.

Whilst massive increase in profits at the expensive of the population is obtuse all the money isn't flowing into the back pockets of the already rich.

"all the money"

None of it should be.
 
Soldato
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This "soak the rich" narrative is just ignorance. Do you have a pension pot building up ? Do you have investments in tracker funds ? If so, I've got news for you - you're one of the rich. These are the major shareholders of shell, BP etc: not some bunch of Illuminati sitting in their hollowed out volcanos stroking white cats and feeding poor people to their pet sharks.

A (very highly) simplified view of their business is that they make a percentage profit off the oil price when its over a baseline price. Its not that long ago the oil price was below what the majors could make a profit on, but nobody was rushing to bail them out. Now that the oil price is high of course the money is coming in and the big increase (off a low base !) is there.

That money will be used for:
- Corporation tax
- Paying shareholders (those pension funds which you and I are part of)
- Repaying debt
- Investment to keep the money coming in. Oil fields need maintenance and re-supply. You don't just drill a hole and you're done ...

If they were truly raking it in, their share prices would be higher. BP are currently ~£4.25 a share. If you look over the last 10 years or so, that's still low - they spent more time between £5 and £6 per share. Shell are doing better (finally !), but not at their highs.
 
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Permabanned
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The financially astute people I know and envy look to situations people on here spend their days whining about to see if they can make money from them. The losers I know spend their time complaining and posting vitriol about those who use their noddles and see if the clouds may have silver linings, and then get off their backsides and make their ideas work.
 
Soldato
OP
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Cost of product due to supply and demand.

Supply down globally.
Costs for extraction probably a small increase.
Cost of commodity on the market massively up.
But if costs are higher why is profit higher? Profit is not cost based? End price could be lower than they are now if profits were lower even if costs are higher.
 
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