Oil firms defend record profits
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
11 Oil companies have defended their record profits, despite continuing high prices at the pumps.
Their profits came at the height of last September's fuel protests, and are in sharp con
trast to those In the manufacturing and service sectors.
Extraction and refining accounted for the majority of profits, with one major firm insisting that it makes no money at all from its UK retail opera tion: "We haven't made any money at all from petrol sold to UK filling stations for the past three years," says a spokesman for Shell. "We do try to follow the market down when it moves while trying to remain competitive."
A BP spokeswoman says its extraction and retail arms are run as separate businesses with no subsidy between them—this would be anti-competitive, she points out.
Howpver, an FTA spokesman says: "Quite obviously the most powerful element in the price is taxation and therefore the ability to cut that price rests primarily with the government. But clearly if oil companies are making such substantial profits we would like to see some price reductions."