International oil and gas companies succeeded in recording huge profits during the third quarter of this year, taking advantage of rising energy costs that boosted inflation around the world and hurt consumers severely, in contrast to the effectiveness of the sales of oil companies.
According to a report by CNBC Arabia, oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron and Equinor, made billions of dollars in profits, as prices of crude, natural gas and fuels such as gasoline approached record levels during the third quarter.
Global supplies remain tight due to production cuts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and market disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These massive profits for oil and gas companies are drawing criticism from pro-consumer groups in the United States and Europe as inflation rises.
US President Joe Biden told oil and gas companies that they are not doing enough to cut energy costs, while calls have emerged in Britain and the European Union for more taxes on the extraordinary profits of energy companies.
ExxonMobil, the largest US energy company, reported profits of nearly $20 billion, exceeding expectations and the previous record set in the second quarter.
Chevron posted a profit of $11.2 billion, nearly double its $6.1 billion in the same period last year.
Norway's Equinor recorded record profits, driven by the arrival of European gas prices to an all-time high, and Italy's Eni nearly tripled profits from last year, reaching 3.73 billion euros ($ 3.72 billion).
The strong results from Europe continued after Shell announced, last Thursday, a profit of 9.5 billion dollars, which puts it on track to exceed its record set in 2008.
