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Today, one of the largest oil companies in the world BP posted their profits from the final quarter of 2022, taking in a jaw-dropping $5.1 billion, bringing their total annual profits to $29 billion. This marks a 110% increase in profit compared to 2021. While Big Oil profited massively in 2022, American consumers were overburdened with historically high gas prices at the pump.
As one of the countries’ largest oil companies enjoyed notably high-profit margins last year, their fourth-quarter earnings call revealed that they had spent over $14 billion in 2022 on stock buybacks and dividends, further enriching their wealthy shareholders.
"In 2022, Big Oil barons like BP waged an all-out war on American consumers, ruthlessly squeezing every last dime out of working and middle-class people," said Jordan Schreiber, Director of Energy and Environment at Accountable.US. “Make no mistake, Big Oil’s never-ending greed was the central force driving the industry's obscene price gouging, forcing families to pay artificially high prices for months on end. Meanwhile in Congress, instead of holding the wealthy oil executives accountable, the new MAGA majority wants to enable Big Oil further as their constituents pay the price.”
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.