It’s been more than a year since the war began in Eastern Europe. This war has caused destruction on a large scale. Due to this, thousands of common citizens including soldiers have been killed and lakhs of people have been rendered homeless. The effect of the war is being seen thousands of kilometers away from Eastern Europe. The whole world is paying the brunt of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine in the form of record inflation. Be it the neighboring country Pakistan or a developed country like Britain, the scarcity of many essential food items in the market and the skyrocketing prices are making life difficult for a large population all over the world. This war, which has been going on since February last year, has still not reached any conclusive result. Neither Russia can be called the winner, nor can it be claimed that Ukraine has won the war. However, in this all-round scene of devastation and outcry, there are a few people who are benefiting immensely.
The eternal truth is ‘Oil game’
We are talking about some selected oil and gas companies of the world, who are earning handsomely after the start of the war. These companies are making such profits, which even the arms manufacturing companies could not earn in the first and second world wars. In these too, especially the profits of the oil companies of America are at a historic level. He is getting this kind of profit, which he had never seen till now. And why only this war… Historical data shows that from Gulf War to Russia and Ukraine war, if anyone has benefited without any question mark, it is the oil companies. Means all the excuses of war have their place, but the ‘oil game’ remains the eternal truth…
These 5 companies made record earnings
The list of companies we are talking about is not very long. Their names are… Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and TotalEnergies, which you can count on one hand. The war began in February last year, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on Ukraine. That is, almost the whole of last year was in the grip of war and only in 2022 these five oil companies earned a huge profit of $195 billion. This figure has been given by the Financial Times after assessing the financial results of the five companies. This figure of profit is about 120 percent more than the year before i.e. 2021. Not only this, but this is the biggest profit in the history for the oil and gas industry.
6.3 million dollars every hour…
First of all, let’s talk about ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. This American company is at the forefront of winning the war, that is, earning profits. This company alone has earned a profit of $ 56 billion, which is 1.5 times more than its 2021 profit. Meaning the company earned a profit of $ 6.3 million every hour last year. This is the biggest profit in the 152-year history of ExxonMobil.
The company is not even trying to hide it. When the whole world is scared of the possibility of economic recession and big companies are resorting to layoffs and salary cuts to reduce costs, this American oil company has given a 52 percent salary hike to its Chief Executive Darren Woods. After this, Woods’ salary has increased to $ 36 million. Apart from this, he has also got a bumper hike of 80 per cent in bonus and stock awards. The company’s stock also rose 160 percent last year.
More profits than God!
This profit of ExxonMobil is not going to surprise only the common people. US President Joe Biden himself has expressed surprise over the profits of ExxonMobil. Commenting on the company’s profit, he said that ExxonMobil is earning more money than God. He had said that these oil companies are not doing anything new or unique, they are just taking advantage of the war situation and making profits.
These companies are also miles ahead
Other oil and gas companies are also not far behind in making profits from the war. Chevron… which is the second largest American oil and gas company after ExxonMobil, has also earned huge profits. ExxonMobil’s arch-rival has earned a record profit of $36.5 billion from the war. And why only American oil companies, European oil companies are also not far behind in making profit from Russia-Ukraine war. Shell has made the highest profit during this period in its 115-year history. This company got a profit of $ 39.9 billion in 2022. British oil company BP earned a profit of $27.7 billion during this period. At the same time, Total Energies has got a net profit of $ 22 billion in 2022 from this war.
370 billion dollars made from war
Funny that this figure is till November 2022 only. The war continues even after that. Now the month of May is going on. Means the figures are about four and a half months back. From November 2022 till now, neither the war has ended nor the speed of earning profits of these oil companies has slowed down. Taking the average according to which these companies have earned till November 2022, these companies have earned an extra profit of about $75 billion in the last four months. Means these 5 oil companies have made a profit of more than $370 billion so far due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Iraq got only one thing… devastation
This is not the first case of oil and gas companies making profits from war and destruction. For example, you can see the Iraq war. The US and its allies had alleged that the then Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein’s government had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). America attacked citing restoring democracy in Iraq. Saddam Hussein was assassinated. Iraq is devastated. Just as America could not find any evidence of Mass Destruction Weapons, Iraq also could not find democracy. After that the situation is such that Iraq has been in the grip of civil war for decades.
Fact not gossip… here is the proof
After the attack on Iraq, America did not get WMDs, nor did Iraq get democracy… But here too, selected companies got a chance to earn immense wealth. Iraq’s system collapsed and in return American companies got a share of Iraq’s oil. After the invasion of Iraq, oil companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron and Halliburton immediately reached Iraq. This is not some empty gossip. Many US officials have since accepted the fact that the real reason for the invasion of Iraq was not WMDs but ‘oil’. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Central Bank, wrote about it in his memoir… It saddens me that it is not politically comfortable to admit what everyone is knowing, but it is a fact that Iraq The main reason for the war was oil.
