© Reuters.
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday expressed outrage over exxonmobil Corp (NYSE:) of record 2022 net earnings of $56 billion, an all-time high not only for the company but for the entire Western oil industry.
The oil majors are expected to break their own annual records due to high prices and increased demand, bringing their combined share to close to $200 billion. The scale has drawn renewed criticism of the oil industry and prompted calls for more countries to tax windfall profits from companies.
A White House statement said Exxon’s profit margin was particularly galling as Americans paid record prices at the pump. He criticized attempts by Republicans in the House of Representatives to push through policies designed to support the oil industry.
“The latest earnings reports make it clear that oil companies have everything they need, including record profits and thousands of unused but approved permits, to ramp up production, but instead choose to invest those profits to line their pockets. of executives and shareholders while the House of Representatives Republicans fabricate excuse after excuse to shield them from liability,” the White House said.
President Joe Biden has criticized oil companies and refiners for much of the past year for enjoying soaring profits as gasoline prices soared. In June, Biden wrote to executives at major oil refineries and complained that they had cut production to boost profits, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters.
Exxon’s chief financial officer, Kathryn Mikells, has responded to mounting criticism over industry windfalls and suggested that the answer is not to raise taxes.
“We look at the EU tax on the energy sector, and you know, it’s just illegal and bad policy to try to tax something, when what you really need is to increase it,” Mikells said. “It has the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve.”
