Record profits show taxes on Big Oil must rise to help alleviate the cost of living crisis

Reacting to record annual profits made by BP today, and other big oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron Corporation in recent weeks, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

“The fossil fuel industry should be in decline. Instead, it is making vast historical profits, profiteering from the rise in energy prices resulting from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

“That Big Oil’s profit margins have swelled so vastly is patently unjustifiable. These profits are an unmitigated disaster, both for the climate and for the millions of people deeply affected by exorbitant energy costs.

“The fossil fuel industry needs to be urgently phased out through a human rights compliant and just energy transition. In the interim, the billions of dollars of profits being made by these oil corporations must be adequately taxed so that governments can address effectively the rising cost of living for most vulnerable populations and better protect human rights in the face of multiple global crises.”

Background

Combined, the annual profits of BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron Corporation in 2022 exceeded US$150 billion, more than the economic output of most countries. These profits derive, in part, from the successful efforts of fossil fuel companies over decades to fight climate action and regulation, and come as inequality, poverty and food insecurity are rising. A third of the world will be in recession this year, according to the IMF, and the richest 1 per cent – including many fossil fuel company chief executives and their investors – have acquired two thirds of all new wealth created since 2020, according to a recent report by Oxfam.