As the average price of gasoline hovers around $4.25 a gallon, major oil corporations including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Shell have recently recorded $51 billion in profits combined.
While big oil has increasingly profited as gas prices dramatically increased during President Joe Biden’s first term, the company profits have doubled — and in some cases — even tripled.
The average price of gas at the end of quarter one, for example, was $4.33 and Exxonmobil’s profits for quarter one were $5.5 billion. In contrast, the average price of gas at the end of quarter two was $4.97 and Exxonmobil’s profits for quarter two were $17.9 billion.
That’s a nearly 15 percent increase in gas prices between the two fiscal quarters, but a 225 percent increase in corporate profits.
Additionally, an analysis by Business Insider shows corporate profits have increased dramatically compared to overall gas prices.
Oil companies have “brought in more than 300 percent more in profits than in the first quarter of 2021,” according to an analysis conducted by the Center for American Progress. “That is a total of more than $35 billion in profits in just three months.”
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Many of the profits generated by these companies have been given back to investors through dividends and share repurchases, according to Reuters.
Chevron reportedly jacked up its annual buyback plans to a price range of $10 billion to $15 billion — that’s up from their previous mark of $5 billion to $10 billion.
“Exxon aims to repurchase $30 billion of shares through 2022 and 2023. Shell said it would buy back $6 billion in shares in the current quarter after buying $8.5 billion in the first half,” Reuters added.
As Americans continue to struggle at the pump, deciding between spending grocery money and fuel money, the U.S. has officially entered a recession. Big oil companies should finally begin prioritizing consumer satisfaction first, over massive profit margins.
It is not only the right thing to do but also in U.S. national security to be energy independent. Instead, the Biden Administration has found itself beholden to various foreign powers, with potentially dangerous and nefarious agendas that would negatively impact the United States– in ways the nation has only begun to feel.
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