Anger as Shell and BP announce 'unexpected' profits as petrol and diesel prices in Northern Ireland fall to November 2021 levels

Oil giant Shell made nearly £1.4 billion more in profit than experts had expected in the first three months of the year, the company said today.

The business joined its rival BP in reporting expectations-beating results this week.

It comes as petrol and diesel prices in NI both fell to levels previously experienced in 2021.

The average cost of a litre of petrol is now 142.9p while diesel averages at 146.9p per litre. This is lower than the averages recorded by the Consumer Council back on November 18, 2021 – 144.6p and 147p respectively.

Demonstrating how quickly the market changed, back on November 26, 2011, the Go firm ran a Black Friday deal selling petrol at 119p per litre. Three months later, in March 2022, petrol was 165.1p a litre.

Meanwhile the average cost of 900 litres of oil in the Province has dropped sharply to £521.90 from £542.80. This is the lowest since February 3, 2022, a month before the March spike brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

BP and Shell’s results have sparked calls for the Government to take a tougher stance against the oil majors.

Labour’s shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband called BP’s “enormous profits” the “unearned, unexpected windfalls of war.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Rishi Sunak’s refusal to close windfall loopholes for big energy companies shows just how out of touch this Conservative Government is with the struggles that families are facing right now.”

New polling by the charity Christian Aid, conducted by Savanta on 2,181 UK adults last month, found 63% of respondents would back the Government in taxing oil companies to pay for the loss and damage fund.

Locally, People Before Profit’s Fiona Ferguson said: “Companies like BP have been price gouging, ripping us off, and are banking record profits.

“Don't tell us there's nothing that can be done about the cost of living / healthcare / climate crises. We shouldn't have to scrimp while climate destroyers rake it in at our expense.”