Rising oil prices? Shell makes US$8bn profit in just one quarter!!!

Shell stoked the furore over high petrol and wider fuel prices today by reporting profits of nearly $8bn (£4bn) in the second quarter of the year, equivalent to £2m an hour. 

The figures were boosted by earnings from the company's controversial oil sands business in North America which increased their earnings by 74% over the last three months.

But Jeroen van der Veer, the Shell chief executive, warned that talk of windfall taxes against the energy companies would be unfair and counterproductive. "Let's hope it does not happen," he said. "I don't see why it will help consumers in the long term."

Shell argues that it is investing more heavily in new oil and gas production than ever before to meet soaring demand and a windfall tax would damage its ability to provide supplies into the future. The company also says that the British government should not tax profits made in other parts of the world. More...

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