The British multinational pays the lump sum payment to the vast majority of its employees worldwide, excluding only those on the executive committee, executive vice-presidents and contractors. The oil company said: “In recognition of the contribution of our people to Shell’s strong operational performance in a recent challenging environment, our executive committee has decided to award special recognition of 8% of salary to all eligible staff worldwide. “The award enables these employees to share in our ongoing operational and financial success – it is not a response to inflation or cost of living challenges.” Last Thursday, the FTSE 100 company revealed it had made a record profit of almost $11.5bn (£9.5bn) for the second straight quarter on the back of rising oil and gas prices and strong refining margins, and promised to offer shareholders £6.5bn worth of payouts. It’s a major turnaround for a company that laid off thousands of workers, suspended bonuses and cut wages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trade Union Confederation, described the gains as “an insult to the millions of workers who are struggling to make ends meet due to rising energy bills”. In total, the world’s five biggest oil companies shared big profits of nearly $100 billion in the first six months of this year. On Tuesday, Shell’s UK rival BP was accused of “unbridled speculation” after underlying profits tripled to $8.5bn (£6.9bn) between April and June, thanks to high oil prices . It was its biggest quarterly profit in 14 years and BP said it would distribute almost £4bn to shareholders as a result. Subscribe to the Business Today daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter @BusinessDesk That has led to a tougher tax windfall for energy companies, which are enjoying a profit boom while consumers struggle with a cost-of-living crisis as energy and food prices rise. Average annual household energy bills are expected to exceed £3,600 this winter. As Russia’s incursion continues, research firm Cornwall Insight has predicted that the energy price cap on annual bills in Great Britain was set to rise to £3,615 a year from January. The cap, which is set quarterly by energy industry regulator Ofgem, was at £1,400 a year in October. Cornwall predicts the cap will remain above £3,400 for the whole of 2023, piling further pressure on household finances. Energy prices have soared amid fears about supplies caused in part by the war in Ukraine. The OPEC oil cartel and its allies agreed to a small increase in oil production by just 100,000 barrels a day on Wednesday, defying hopes for a bigger increase, which is likely to keep oil prices high. BP chief executive Bernard Looney, whose total pay reached £4.5m last year, in February described BP as a “cash machine”, even before the war pushed up prices further.
