Oil & Gas Profits Hit Record $400 Billion for 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: February 27, 2023
CONTACT: Addy Toevs, addy@climatepower.us

Oil & Gas Profits Hit Record $400 Billion for 2022

Industry Spends Big on Rewarding Execs and Shareholders, Lobbying, and Politics

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As of Thursday following market close, the total announced yearly profits from the oil and gas industry surpassed $400 billion, capitalizing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and smashing previous records which were set in 2021 with just over $200 billion in profit. Oil and gas companies spent $114 billion on stock buybacks and another $100 billion on dividends to funnel cash into the pockets of wealthy executives and shareholders. The industry’s record 2022 profits were driven by industry profiteering off of the war in Ukraine and prove yet again that their plan to get rich off the backs of working families – and to donate to Republican candidates and representatives who might turn a blind eye –  has paid dividends. 

“$400 billion in profits is a stark reminder of Big Oil CEOs commitment to war profiteering and extorting American families. Millions of working people are living paycheck to paycheck, feeling the pain at the pump while the oil and gas industry breaks profit records year after year,” said Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes. “Republican members continue to take millions from Big Oil, cozying up to the industry while their constituents are barely making ends meet.”

The biggest oil companies – including ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP – made almost half the record breaking sum, raking in $180.5 billion. These corporations rewarded their shareholders with a combined $64 billion in buybacks, illustrating the exact pattern of behavior President Biden highlighted in his State of the Union when he called for quadrupling buyback taxes on big business. Oil and gas companies are price gouging at the pump, inflating both their profits and their buybacks, rewarding billionaires while working families struggle to meet the bottom line.

In the 2022  election cycle, the oil and gas industry gave $38.4 million in campaign contributions to Republican candidates. Now these companies have a friendly Republican majority in the House—which means we should expect their profiteering and political gamesmanship will only get more bold as they continue to spread climate disinformation and put their billion-dollar profits ahead of people.

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