Shell's profits shine a light on our addiction to fossil fuels

There is much anger at the "obscene" profits recorded by Shell - nearly $40bn worldwide in the last year. Big, even by Big Oil standards. Only a few billion of that is generated in the UK, but it's still large enough to be annoyed about. Oil companies are often called "wicked" and "evil" because they dig fossil fuels out of the ground, which is bad; and they make lots of money without trying very hard, which is equally unpalatable.

- SEAN O'GRADY

It is true, though, that they also made gigantic (albeit smaller) losses during the pandemic - $21.5bn in the case of Shell. There is added distaste for these latest profit figures because they are artificially inflated by the restriction of energy supplies after the wicked and evil war in Ukraine started by Vladimir Putin.

Naturally, people are now contrasting the ease with which an oil giant can generate more money than it needs, and without much effort, with the plight of poor, vulnerable people in poverty unable to pay their bills.

Disgracefully, we learnt just how cruelly bailiffs have been routinely authorised by British Gas and the courts to force themselves into people's homes to fit more expensive pay meters (British Gas says it has suspended the practice).

It's a situation that lends itself to moral outrage. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said the profits were "obscene" and "an insult to working families". To which I can only say, we shouldn't blame the energy companies, but blame ourselves. It's our own fault that we are where we are. We're the fossil fuel addicts. The energy companies just sell us what we want.

Obviously we should levy a substantial "windfall" tax on Shell and the others, because, as they admit, it will make little difference to their investment plans. The current rate of 75 per cent may even be too modest, given the extraordinary way in which the profits have ballooned - about twice as big as they "ought" to be. It also seems foolish to offer them huge tax reliefs for exploring new gas and oil fields, given the climate crisis and the disappointing progress on meeting the Cop26 targets for CO2 emissions.