Gas Prices Remain High as Big Oil CEOs and Wall Street Investors Cash in With Record Profits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 8, 2022

Contact:
Jennifer K. Falcon, ‪(512) 843-5334, jennifer@fossilfree.media

Washington D.C. – The first-quarter earnings calls for several Big Oil companies are completed, revealing massive windfall profits made off of high gas prices spurred by the war in Ukraine. Exxon alone made $5.75B while Chevron made $6.3B. BP’s profit in Q1 came in at $6.2B while Shell boasted $9.1B in earnings. Despite urging the federal government to let them drill and lease more public land, each company is prioritizing doubling down on share buyback programs to reward major Wall Street investors rather than stabilizing gas prices or investing in more output and production that they falsely claim will lower gas prices. Exxon is repurchasing $2.1B in stock, Chevron spending $4B in stock buybacks and dividend payouts, BP announcing a further $2.5 billion in share buybacks, and Shell completing an $8.5 billion buyback.

The investments in buybacks rather than output make it clear that even Big Oil doesn’t believe its own rhetoric about production lowering prices, instead prioritizing greater profit margins for those at the top. 

The massive war profiteering adds momentum to one of the clearest ways to hold Big Oil accountable: a Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax. There are currently multiple bills in Congress that would enact a windfall profits tax, including the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Ro Khanna, which could generate up to $40 billion in revenue that goes directly toward providing relief to middle and low-income Americans. 

These funds would be enough to send middle and low-income Americans a check for around $240 per person to offset prices at the pump. Over 120 organizations and a growing list of Members of Congress support the proposal. The latest polling finds that 80 percent of voters support the enactment of a windfall profits tax.

In response, Jamie Henn, spokesperson for STOP (Stop the Oil Profiteering) released the following statement:

“After seeing these massive Q1 profits and Big Oil’s emphasis on making the rich richer rather than helping the public amid record-high prices, it’s clear that something needs to be done about Big Oil’s war profiteering. They can no longer hide behind the guise of needing more leases after enjoying record profits and making few new investments in the production they say is a solution. The industry needs to be held accountable for these runaway profits with a Windfall Profits Tax, which will help everyday American consumers deal with gas prices that remain high after months and months of Big Oil lies.” 

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