At Least Someone is Happy

As consumers from Atlanta to Aberdeen struggle with soaring gas prices, and Clinton and Obama squabble over gas tax rebates, at least the oil barons are happy. Royal Dutch Shell and BP have racked up combined profits of over $14bn in just three months, thanks to the soaring prices of oil and gas.

The rival energy giants both announced record profits for the first quarter of the year. Shell recorded net earnings of $7.776bn, a 12% increase on a year ago. This comfortably beat analyst expectations.

BP swelled its profits for the quarter by almost 50%, as it started to recover from the severe problems at its US refineries. It posted a profit of $6.588bn for the quarter.

Both companies saw a big jump in profits at their exploration and production operations. This was mainly due to the doubling in the value of a barrel of oil since a year ago. And Opec are now saying $200 a barrel is on the cards…..

Happy days are here again… if you are an oil man…