Activists call surging oil and gas profits ‘horrifying’ as energy giants post profits twice as high as 2025
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has led to significant profits for major oil and gas companies, with BP reporting a profit of $3.2 billion in the first quarter of the year. Activists have criticized these surging profits, highlighting the economic burden on consumers facing high gasoline prices. As oil prices continue to rise, the financial gains for energy giants are projected to reach unprecedented levels this year.
- ▪BP reported profits of $3.2 billion in the first quarter, more than double the previous year.
- ▪The six largest energy firms saw a combined market capitalization increase of $130 billion since the war began.
- ▪Drivers in Europe faced an additional €150 million per day in gasoline costs during the early weeks of the conflict.
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If drivers saddled with pricey fees at the pump have been one of the biggest economic losers of the war in the Middle East, the companies selling that gasoline have emerged as the conflict’s clear winner.Recommended Video In mid-March, when the war was only two weeks old, market capitalization at the world’s six largest energy firms had surged a combined $130 billion, the Guardian calculated. But it took some companies reporting first quarter earnings this past week to nail down just how much hard cash the conflict has generated for oil giants. On Tuesday, BP, one of the U.K.’s largest energy companies, reported $3.2 billion in profits over the first three months of the year, more than double the $1.38 billion in profits the company announced over the same period last year.
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