The rise in oil prices as a result of the Ukraine war and the end of the corona restrictions have brought energy companies billions in profits. Shell, Repsol and Totalenergies presented record profits on Thursday and were able to increase the previous year's values many times over.
French group Total earned more in the second quarter thanks to higher prices and its refining business. Profits rose 158 percent to $5.7 billion despite a writedown on a stake in a Russian gas producer. A year ago it was 2.2 billion. Adjusted for special effects, earnings climbed to a record $9.8 billion.
Shell posted adjusted earnings of $11.5 billion. That is more than twice as much as a year earlier. The British group was able to offset lower results in liquid gas trading with higher prices and refinery profit margins as well as better results in gas and electricity trading. The bottom line is that the company earned $18 billion, five times the previous year's figure. Compared to the first quarter, it was more than twice as much. At that time, the withdrawal from the Russian business had depressed the result.
The till also rang at Repsol. In the first half of the year, the group from Madrid made a net profit of more than 2.5 billion euros. That was a good twice as much as a year earlier. Almost half came from the book value of stocks that Repsol holds as a strategic reserve for Spain.
