Five oil supermajors have made just under $500bn (£346bn) in profits since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an analysis of company earnings shows, even as households across Europe have continued to grapple with elevated energy bills four years into the war.
The figure comes from a review by the advocacy group Global Witness of earnings reported by Shell, BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Total Energies between February 2022 and January 2026.
According to the group’s calculations, the five companies recorded combined profits of $467bn (£346bn) over the four-year period. Their earnings spiked sharply in the year following Russia’s invasion as oil and gas prices surged through the global energy crisis triggered by the conflict.
That total is close to the $524bn (£388bn) estimated cost of rebuilding Ukraine, according to international assessments cited in the analysis.
In the same period, shareholders in the five companies received a total of $444bn (£329bn) in dividends and share buybacks, the group said. That figure exceeds the EU’s total clean energy spending in 2025 of $391bn (£289bn).
The analysis also found that, despite setting targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050, BP and Shell spent on average 10 times more on shareholder payouts than on low-carbon and renewable energy investment between 2022 and 2025.
“The oil supermajors have amassed a fortune since Russia's war began, raking in almost half a trillion dollars in profit as households across Europe have faced crippling bills and Ukrainians have suffered relentless attacks,” Patrick Galey, head of news investigations at Global Witness, said.
“To make matters worse, oil giants have spent their spoils on huge payouts to wealthy shareholders and more climate-wrecking oil and gas production.”
In the months after the war began in early 2022, wholesale gas prices in Europe rose to record highs. Energy bills for households rose sharply, prompting governments to introduce support schemes and windfall taxes on energy producers in some countries.
Although prices have since fallen from their peak, UK household energy costs have stayed above the pre-2022 levels.
Global Witness argued that the scale of profits highlights the oil sector’s continued reliance on fossil fuel production rather than on accelerating investment in clean energy as expected from them under global climate agreements. “Governments must tax dirty fossil fuel firms fairly and squarely, with the proceeds used to help rebuild Ukraine, fund climate action and compensate households plunged into energy poverty,” Mr Galey said.
Instead of shifting capital towards renewables, the analysis noted, several companies have signalled plans to maintain or expand oil and gas output. It pointed to reported interest from Chevron, BP and Shell in Venezuelan oil projects after the US eased some sanctions following its capture, in a military raid, of president Nicolas Maduro.
The Independent has reached out to BP, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Total Energies for comment.
The war in Ukraine has entered its fifth year, with reconstruction costs mounting and energy security remaining a central concern in Europe’s policy debates.
Oil and gas markets were already tightening before the war due to post-pandemic demand recovery. The conflict compounded supply disruptions, pushing benchmark crude and gas prices to multi-year highs in 2022 and driving record earnings across the sector.
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