There are winners and losers in today's economic climate – and top of the winners is the oil and gas industry.
Following Shell's announcement of record profits of $40 billion dollars for 2022, BP has now declared its own bumper result at $27.7 billion dollars.
Oil and gas prices soared after the pandemic and then surged even further following the crisis in Ukraine, resulting in BP's bumper year of profits.
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But many have criticized the energy companies' decisions to buy back shares, increasing their value – and also the generous hike in dividend payments for investors.
The calls for extra taxation are no surprise either. BP has spent $15 billion in worldwide tax for 2022, of which $2.2bn was on UK operations – as well as $700 million in Energy Profits Levy, which is the current windfall tax arrangement.
But the oil and gas giants are just that – giants. They have massive operations to protect, and they currently bridge the divide between fossil fuels and renewables.
BP has recorded record profits of $27 billion but has announced it is scaling back its commitment to reduce emissions by up to 40% by 2030 to just '20 to 30%.' /Glyn Kirk/AFP
Future plans may include investment in renewables, the EV charging infrastructure, hydrogen or bioenergy, and these may make up the bulk of the energy operations sometime in the future.
But in 2022 the demand for fossil fuel products rose to unprecedented levels that are unlikely to be matched again.
BP has also announced that its promise to reduce emissions by up to 40 percent this decade has been reduced to just 20 to 30 percent.
Environmental groups have called this dirty money trading on oil and gas products. BP will point to the $8 billion it has set aside for renewables research until 2030.