BP has today unveiled its latest tranche of grotesque profits as the oil giant continues to make a killing from the cost of living crisis.
The energy giant reported near-record underlying replacement cost profits of $5 billion (£4 billion) in its 2023 Q1 results – the second highest-ever profit for quarter.
For 2022, the company distributed $14.75 billion (£11.75 billion) to shareholders in what has been described as one of the biggest “direct transfers of income from ordinary bill payers to company shareholders” in history.
Previous research from Common Wealth found that together BP and Shell had distributed £147 billion to shareholders between 2010 and 2020.
That would mean that, since 2010, money paid to shareholders of the two energy giants would fund the National Health Service for a year.
The Department for Health and Social Care is allocated a budget of £180.2 billion, according to The King’s Fund. Of this, £152.6 billion is spent on the NHS.
Commenting on the results, Mathew Lawrence, executive director of Common Wealth, said: “BP’s continued huge profits show yet again the reality of our economy: while a cost of living crisis grinds on, the energy giants are profiting at our expense.
“A bumper quarter of £4 billion in profits has triggered a new round of share buybacks, transferring £1.4 billion to shareholders.
“The energy crisis is really a massive upward transfer of income from ordinary people and business to wealthy investors.
“In response, we need a proper windfall and the building out of a public energy system.”
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