Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" reported on August 4 that in the absence of a substantial increase in production by "OPEC+", benefiting from high oil prices, European and American oil giants have made a lot of money.

The report pointed out that large oil companies have achieved good results. British Petroleum (BP) released its second-quarter 2022 financial report on the 2nd, showing that its net profit was about three times that of the same period last year, reaching $9.3 billion.

British Shell's second-quarter net profit was as high as 18 billion US dollars, 5.3 times that of the same period last year. U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil's second-quarter net profit was $17.8 billion, 3.8 times higher than a year earlier. US Chevron's second-quarter net profit reached 11.6 billion US dollars, also 3.8 times the same period last year.

The report analyzed that the reason for the increase in the profits of these companies was the rise in the price of energy such as crude oil. The futures price of "U.S. WTI crude oil", an oil price indicator, was still around $60 a barrel a year ago. After the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out in February this year, the price of WTI crude oil futures exceeded $100 per barrel, and even reached as high as $100 to $120 in the second quarter. High oil prices have become the main reason for rising prices in various countries.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments on the 3rd local time to tax the large oil and gas companies that have made huge profits from the current energy crisis and use the money to help the poor.

According to the Australian Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) website, Guterres delivered a speech at the United Nations Headquarters in New York that day, saying that the world's largest energy company's overall profit in the first quarter of 2022 is nearly 100 billion US dollars.

In his speech, Guterres specifically mentioned the oil companies: Exxon Mobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation of the United States, Shell Group headquartered in London, England, and Total energy company of France.

He said: “It is immoral for oil and gas companies to make record profits from this energy crisis while placing a huge climate cost on the poorest people and communities. This ludicrous greed is punishing The poorest and most vulnerable while destroying our only common home, the Earth."