ExxonMobil’s record-breaking $20 billion profit nearly matches Apple’s 

And BP and Chevron are not far behind….

ExxonMobil oil refinery at sunrise at Port-Jerome-sur-Seine, France.  Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

The US oil supermajor ExxonMobil has reported a quarterly profit of nearly $20bn (£17.3bn), $4bn more than analysts had forecast, almost matching the earnings of the tech giant Apple.

Exxon’s $19.7bn profit for the third quarter outstripped the record $17.9bn it reported for the previous quarter, as it became the latest fossil fuel producer to enjoy soaring earnings, a day after Shell announced global profits of $9.5bn between July and September.

The results came as another US oil company, Chevron, reported a quarterly profit of $11.2bn, its second-highest ever, as it also stormed past analysts’ estimates. This was slightly lower than the previous quarter, but almost double the $6.1bn profit the company made during the same period a year earlier.

Together the two largest US oil companies have earned more than $30bn in three months.

Oil companies have raked in record profits in recent months, thanks to the surge in the price of oil and natural gas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, causing soaring energy bills for consumers and businesses.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday called on major oil companies who are bringing in big profits to stop “war profiteering“, threatening to hit them with higher taxes if they don’t increase production

BP said it expects to pay around $2.5 billion in taxes on its British North Sea business this year, including $800 million in a 25% windfall tax the government imposed in May.

British UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government should explore extending that windfall tax on oil and gas firms in a fiscal statement due next month, the president of the COP26 climate summit, Alok Sharma, said on Friday.

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Reuters and The Guardian

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