Shell’s profits soar to £8.2billion in just three months doubling amount for same period last year 

Shell has today announced profits of nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September, more than double what it made during the same period the year before.

The oil giant continued to benefit from high gas prices, driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But profits were down compared with what Shell had earned between April and June when it made $11.5bn (£9.9bn), as the price of oil slowly began to fall.

The war in Ukraine has seen energy prices skyrocket across Europe, contributing to a cost-of-living crisis in the UK, with millions of Britons facing a difficult winter. 

Shell announced today profits of nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September, more than double what it made during the same period the year before

Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said the company was ‘delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in the global energy market’

Announcing the results, chief executive Ben van Beurden said: ‘We are delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in the global energy market.

Shell is now nine months into what promises to be the company’s most profitable year ever, barring an unlikely major collapse in oil and gas prices over the next two months.

The business was already benefiting from a global economy that had reopened after the pandemic and was desperate for energy to fuel its growth.

Then Vladimir Putin waged an unprovoked war in Ukraine in February, pushing European gas prices to all-time highs and the price of oil soared internationally.

The energy crisis led then-chancellor Rishi Sunak in May to introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea.

But that has not stopped Shell from handing billions of dollars to its shareholders this year.

On Thursday it announced plans to return a further $4bn (£3.5bn) to shareholders by buying back shares over the next three months, and said it will also increase the dividend by 15 per cent.

It takes the total payout to Shell shareholders to $26bn (£22.4bn) so far this year.

Mr van Beurden said: ‘We continue to strengthen Shell’s portfolio through disciplined investment and transform the company for a low-carbon future.

‘At the same time we are working closely with governments and customers to address their short- and long-term energy needs.’

Greenpeace yesterday called for a ‘proper tax’ on the energy giant’s profits, which it said could help insulate thousands of homes.

‘While Shell continues to bank billions, how many more households need to be forced into fuel poverty before the Government wakes up?

‘The only way to address the interlocking cost of living, energy security and climate crises is a street-by-street rollout of home insulation combined with a massive lift in ambition for renewable energy,’ the campaign group’s UK senior climate adviser, Charlie Kronick, said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘The Conservative Government’s refusal to properly tax these eye-watering profits is an insult to families struggling to pay their energy bills.

‘Even the CEO of Shell has admitted that oil and gas companies should be taxed more to help protect vulnerable households.’