European oil companies report record profits.

The rise in oil and gas prices, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is bringing record profits to European energy companies, writes Bloomberg. British Shell made $11.5B in net profit in the second quarter, Norwegian Equinor $6.8B, French TotalEnergies – $5.7B, and Spanish Repsol – $1.2B. Most of these companies will buy back some of their shares from the stock exchange. This indicates a surplus of cash funds that will not be invested into the company’s development. The buyback allows the oil companies to increase the value of their largest shareholder’s shares and strengthen their positions. Shell, for example, plans to spend $6B on share buybacks. “This signals the company’s confidence in cash flows in view of the outlook for operations in 2023,” JPMorgan analyst Christian Malek commented on the situation.