LONDON: Global energy giants including ExxonMobil Corp and Chevron Corp posted another round of huge quarterly profits, benefiting from surging natural gas and fuel prices that have boosted inflation around the world and led to fresh calls to further tax the sector.

Four of the five largest global oil companies have now reported results, combining for nearly $50 billion in net income, lifted by tight global markets and disruption following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The sheer size of the profits has revived calls from politicians and consumer groups to impose more taxes on the companies to raise funds to offset the hit to households, businesses and the wider economy from higher energy costs. They have also criticised big oil companies for not doing enough to raise production to offset rising fuel and heating costs.

Chevron Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber warned in an interview with Reuters that “taxing production will just reduce it.” The company reported its second-highest profit of $11.2 billion. However, the company’s global production is down so far this year from a year ago, and other US oil companies signaled that output in the top-producing US shale region is waning already.

“If you raise the costs on energy producers, it will decrease investment so that goes against the intent of increasing suppliers and making energy more affordable.” US President Joe Biden, who earlier this year said Exxon was making “more money than God”, told oil companies this month that they were not doing enough to bring down energy costs.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2022