Dear petrol, Greenpeace: 36 billion extra profits for the EU oil industry

The European Union's oil industry has accumulated 36 billion euros in extra profits since the start of the conflict in Iran. The analysis, released by Greenpeace and conducted by Greenpeace Germany, examines the period between 1 March and 19 October this year. Oil companies recorded an average extra margin of around 154 million euros per day within the European Union and Italy would rank third in the Old Continent in terms of volume of extra profits generated, with an average of over 21 million euros per day. In our country the main impact came above all from the soaring price of diesel.

The data

According to data released by the environmental association, the costs linked to the production, refining and distribution of crude oil have remained substantially unchanged. The growth in profits comes entirely from the increase in fuel prices paid by end consumers at the pumps. In the European Union, diesel prices after taxes increased on average by 22.7 cents per litre, while petrol prices increased by 13.3 cents. This difference represents the extra profit that oil companies pocket at the pump, since production, refining and distribution costs have remained virtually unchanged. The war in Iran and the crisis in the Middle East are therefore being used as a pretext to apply record increases in fuel prices at the expense of the people. Greenpeace has expressed a harsh condemnation, highlighting the contrast between the historical records of corporate profits and the growing economic difficulties of families, already affected by the increase in winter bills, and formally asks European governments to introduce a permanent tax on the extra profits of the giants of the fossil sector (oil and gas). The proposed objective is to reuse the proceeds of this taxation to lighten citizens' energy costs and finance the ecological transition towards renewable sources.

Skyrocketing fuel bills and costs

"Oil companies are shamelessly taking advantage of the crisis situation to enrich themselves, making their record profits weigh on people, who struggle to make ends meet and are exposed to increasingly frequent, intense and devastating extreme climate events – declared Federico Spadini of Greenpeace Italia's Climate campaign -. After a summer with tens of thousands of deaths attributed to the heat and burning forests across Europe, we are on the eve of a winter with skyrocketing energy bills and fuel costs. Governments Europeans must tax the profits of oil and gas companies and use the resources obtained to protect people from sudden increases in the cost of energy, invest in renewable sources and promote adaptation and mitigation strategies to protect the communities most exposed to the impacts of the climate crisis".