The world’s five largest listed oil companies are expected to reward their investors with record payouts of more than $100bn (£79bn) for 2023 against a backdrop of growing public outrage at fossil fuel profits.
The five “super-majors” – BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies – showered shareholders with dividend payments and share buybacks worth $104bn in the 2022 calendar year, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
The bumper payouts followed a year of record profits for big oil and gas companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended global energy markets, triggering a rise in the international price of Brent crude and record gas prices across Europe.
Shell angered climate campaigners in November by setting out plans to pay shareholders at least $23bn in rewards this year, despite falling profits. The sum is more than six times the amount Shell planned to spend on renewable energy last year.
Shell’s investor windfall follows one of the biggest annual profits in UK corporate history for 2022 when the oil company revealed profits of $40bn but weaker commodity market prices in 2023 means its full-year earnings are expected to be lower.
