- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
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- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
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- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
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- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
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- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
Oil majors face backlash as era of big profits returns
Soaring energy prices have brought massive profits to oil majors -- along with fierce criticism from environmentalists and politicians at a time when consumers are left with rising bills.
US firm ExxonMobil, France's TotalEnergies, and UK giants Shell and BP announced in the past week 2021 profits totalling a whopping $66.7 billion.
It marked a huge turnaround from 2020, when they posted losses as the pandemic emerged, prompting lockdowns that brought the world economy to a grinding halt and caused crude prices to collapse.
But oil and gas prices rallied big time last year, surging to $70 per barrel after briefly sinking into negative territory in 2020.
The main international and US contracts rose to seven-year highs in January and now sit at around $90. Gas prices, meanwhile, hit records in Europe.
"Oil companies benefited from an extraordinary alignment of the planets," said Moez Ajmi, oil industry expert at EY consultancy.
In addition to higher energy prices, energy firms "cleaned up" their assets to only keep the most profitable ones, Ajmi said.
The companies also strengthened their cost-cutting policies which started in a previous price slump in 2014.
A gradual increase in output by OPEC and its allies has also helped.
ExxonMobil went from a $22.4 billion loss in 2020 to a $23 billion profit in 2021.
Shell was $20.1 billion in the green last year after a $21.7 billion loss in 2020.
TotalEnergies went from a historic $7.2 billion loss to a 15-year high profit of $16 billion.
BP's recovery was not as big, going from $20.3 billion in the red to $7.6 billion in the green.
Prices at the pump and utility bills, meanwhile, have gone up for consumers.
- 'Slap in the face' -
BP said the result would allow it to accelerate "the greening" of the company.
But the performances at the companies triggered calls for a windfall tax on the profits of energy firms in the UK.
"These profits are a slap in the face to the millions of people dreading their next energy bill," Greenpeace UK's head of climate Kate Blagojevic said in a statement.
"BP and Shell are raking in billions from the gas price crisis while enjoying one of the most favourable tax regimes in the world for offshore drillers," she said.
"And these are the same companies responsible for pushing our world closer to catastrophic climate change."
Seeking to head off a political storm, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week a package of financial support after the state energy regulator lifted prices.
The opposition Labour Party said it was not enough.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak's "energy plans last week left families more worried than ever," tweeted Labour shadow minister Rachel Reeves after the oil companies published their results.
"It's time for Labour's plan for a one-off windfall tax on oil & gas producers to cut bills."
Sunak rejected the tax idea.
- More profits -
With a presidential election looming in France in April, Green candidate Yannick Jadot spoke out against profits made "on the back of French men and women" while "gas and petrol bills rise for the benefit of shareholders".
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said that if the company paid more to governments, "it would be at the expense of investments, workers or shareholders".
But in apparent move to fend off criticism, TotalEnergies announced this week a discount at the pump in rural areas of France along with a 100-euro voucher for people struggling to pay their gas bills.
Oil majors, however, could be in for another banner year for their bottom lines as analysts forecast prices climbing to $100 per barrel.
"The health crisis appears to be ending, the economic recoveries in China, the United States and Europe don't appear to be flagging, supply continues to be limited due to a lack of oil investments in the past two years and environmental pressure," Ajmi said.
"So, yes, the profit rebound of the oil majors could continue in 2022."
O.Johnson--AMWN