Thanks to the surge in oil and gas prices exacerbated by the Ukrainian crisis, the six largest European oil companies (Bp, Eni, Equinor, Repsol, Shell and TotalEnergies) generated USD 74.55 billion in extra profits in the first half of 2022 alone. Equinor, a 67% subsidiary of the Norwegian government, alone generated additional profits of USD 28 billion: 38% of the total extra-profits of the six companies analysed. Between 2019 and 2022, the exploration and production segment (of oil and gas) in Norway grew by 450%, while the weight of gas in total revenues more than doubled. In the second quarter of 2022, Equinor increased its gas production by 18% compared to the same period in 2021, making Norway the largest supplier in Europe, after Russia cut off supplies: the government in Oslo in recent days has positioned itself strongly against the EU imposing a cap on the price of gas. Investments in the energy transition of almost all oil bigwigs, which should lead to zero net CO2 emissions by 2050, are not taking off: Equinor’s alleged green investments, for example, amount to 10% of the total invested. Green investments are not so easy to implement because the oil companies came late and face astronomical entry prices. Furthermore, there is a shortage of large projects in the short term. In the meantime, some states have thought of introducing extraordinary forms of taxation, with very different strategies: in Norway, however, there has already been an additional tax on oil revenues since 1996, today at 56%, which brings the taxation of Equinor’s profits to a total rate of more than 70%. By contrast, the total weight of extraordinary taxation of extra-profits in the various European countries will be very limited. Read more on Equinor.com
