comment: >
  
  As someone in the industry this is not surprising and was entirely expected.  I cannot stress enough how they do not care about your heating bills or transportation costs.  Taking advantage of market instability or indeed creating is how the oil industry works.
context: Also Shell: Gas is just expensive at the moment, nothing we can do >
  
  Inflation had stagnated for decades, because of massive wealth consolidation for that period - there are thousands of people in this world making money faster than spending is even possible.
  This inflation is artificial. >
  
  Inflation can't happen organically if money isn't spent. The hoarding of wealth in the US made inflation disappear, unless inflation was introduced maliciously. >
  
  This isn't a conspiracy, it's just how publicly owned companies operate in this day and age. Private equity has entrenched their power, same game that Enron pulled in the California energy market. >
  
  So if they can't fail during a good economy and they thrive during a bad one where is the risk inherit to justifying their profits? >
  
  Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about risk? Big Corpo is here for maximum profit and zero risk. That's why they feign victim status during the pandemic, it helps to minimize their risk. They're not actually victims, never were, and their profit records prove it. 
  But - so help me good - show them one single quarter without growth, and holy crap, there goes 30% of their workforce laid off. And of course it's not their fault when they have to lay off workers. Economic conditions, yada yada, all that.
  Free market at work, friends. >
  
  Basically used inflation to hide profiteering. >
  
  It hasn't just been the oil companies, either. >
  
  They all piled in on us. Shit is unlawful. >
  
  Um, it’s worse than that,  it’s lawful, legally they did nothing wrong >
  
  One might suspect collusion within industries. Would be stupid for them to outwardly do this of course. >
  
  Why would it be stupid for them?
  There are zero consequences for them. >
  
  Price fixing, in Capitalism it’s a feature, not a bug. >
  
  clever use of game mechanics >
  
  It’s so fucking simple. Either governments regulate industry to prevent this, or corporations do everything they can to maximize profit. It’s just an incentive misalignment. >
  
  Some might say that’s communism >
  
  Some would be objectively wrong and should be entirely ignored. >
  
  Unfortunately their votes are equal to the sane people. >
  
  True, but they are still misguided and objectively incorrect. I focus on solutions not hypothetical wrong opinions. >
  
  Ignoring is not a solution >
  
  To address a problem requires addressing a root cause. I can't help willfully ignorant people become less willfully ignorant. If someone truly believes that regulation = communism then they fundamentally misunderstand what regulation is in the first place. >
  
  Yeah. No, it was a sarcastic comment on how something we need gets shot down due to ignorance or misinformation. It is pathetic how easily the simps are led astray. >
  
  I get it, get used to another red-scare for damn near every topic. There were YouTube ads airing in Florida during the 2020 US-Election that said Biden was friends with Maduro (Venezuelan President) and that Biden is a socialist. Got tons of views even after Maduro himself denied it. People be crazy. >
  
  I live in a democratic/socialist country (Canada), and between reasonable taxes and free healthcare, I can’t imagine living any other way. >
  
  We're all just having the piss taken out of us >
  
  We really are. Laughing at us and the death of the planet. >
  
  We just let em. >
  
  So why again do we keep shovelings billions in subsidies to these guys year after year? >
  
  Getting real fucking sick of all these companies bitching about how they HAVE to raise prices to stay afloat only to report later that it's their best quarter yet. >
  
  When we get hungry or our bank accounts go to zero.. . We need to pay the CEOs a personal visit. >
  
  Yeah, but dont forget theres a whole board thats equally responsible. >
  
  Barbecue lunch? >
  
  Honestly, when we do just outright reach the point where all the money has been squeezed out? It’s looking more and more like the end of a game of monopoly. >
  
  When we run out of money then we just go into debt. When we're in debt the owners of that debt will own us and since the politicians with all their investments and lobbyists cash streams will also likely be owners of our debt, it wont be long before they change the laws and ignore the constitution and allow debtors prisons or some shit like "compulsory labor" to "enforce repayment" aka modern slavery. 
  Theyre just going to turn us into slaves and if we try to complain, drone strike.
  Feels maybe 30 years off. >
  
  Everyone is already in debt. >
  
  "I did that."
  If you ever believed that shit, you should know that you were worked over and used by the corporations that feed your media to exploit and manipulate you because they think you're a fucking fool. 
  You might wanna start checking the receipts for the rest of your source's political bumper sticker collection. >
  
  Whoever you're trying to communicate with can't read. >
  
  Nonsense, they just can't read that well. Too busy watching tiktoks about how their iPhone 5G network is giving them cancer. >
  
  I believe we've been experiencing some inflation. I'm also pretty sure some corporations used that BS as cover to price gouge the shit out of us. I'm surprised they didn't bother placing one of those "I did that!" Biden stickers next to the amount. >
  
  The yokels who run the Shell store nearest to my house slap that sticker on the pumps every time it gets above $3.50 (and removes them every time it drops). >
  
  I'm embarrassed to be an American walking around with "people" who think the price of gas has anything to do with politicians. >
  
  To be more accurate, many Americans believe that the gas price is only affected by presidents they don’t like.  Everyone understands that a person they voted for had nothing to do with prices going up. >
  
  And you got a stock buy back, and your ceo gets a raise because the government won’t lift a finger to help break up these too large to fail companies >
  
  Someone needs to make a sticker that says "greed did that". >
  
  Meanwhile, american conservatives are busy blaming the president about a pipeline that already exists instead of acknowledging the record profits made by oil companies and the financial harm they're happily causing >
  
  Because the conservative media is controlled by those who profit from these actions and are telling their listeners/readers that it's not so. >
  
  Can we make stickers that highlight corporate greed and throw them on gas pumps? >
  
  You mean the real cause of high gas prices instead of those ridiculous stickers blaming the president? >
  
  Strange, all they do is heartwarming renewable energy car races and fly kids kites near windmills. I guess cynical greenwashing is very profitable. >
  
  These people are scum. >
  
  Now everyone understands why politicians don't do shit to change the status quo. They are corporate peons working for all of the big companies. Oil is just a sample, pharma, media, it's all in the mix. >
  
  Just to put that number in perspective...
  They made: $39,900,000,000 last year...
  The average income of an American last year (roughly): $54,132
  That means that in just one year Shell made more money than 737,087 people combined. And that is only 1 company...how much longer are we going to tolerate getting robbed blind by these corporations? When is enough, enough? >
  
  When we can do a damn thing about it, it’s like being laughed at right to your face. Now bend over harder baby! >
  
  Well general strikes are illegal(?) In the USA so you can't do that.... Even though a nation wide strike should occur. But this is spiraling out of control and sooner or later, illegal or not, shit will hit the fan. >
  
  The 1% people who are concerned about protecting their own personal wealth as well as the profits of the corporations they have majority ownership in, are the same people who influence lawmakers to create laws like this (making general strikes illegal, etc). >
  
  I love how a nation built by unions and with strikes in the late 19th and early 20th century has now made it illegal to strike because the 1% don't like it..... Looking towards the French Revolution for guidance at this point. >
  
  Corporations have become entities in their own right that are no longer human, it’s literally been gamed the system so hard that they have it down to an art.There needs to be governmental oversight around the globe to stop this shit or we are going to become slaves to corporations >
  
  "It's not our fault the price of oil is so high"
  Step 4: Huge profit >
  
  That's almost a Twitter, which also indicates something profoundly depressing about the state of the world... >
  
  Oil price.com reported that the petroleum industries made $200 billion in net profits the largest ever. As always profits over people! >
  
  Have we finally accepted that inflation is nothing more than capitalist price gouging? Always has been?
  Or are we still blaming the $1200 stimulus checks (breadcrumbs) we got a few years back? >
  
  Unfortunately, only some of us have. There are still a large number of idiots who vote against their own best interests. >
  
  All while the planet is dying too >
  
  The planet’s not dying, we are. >
  
  *Poor people are >
  
  Oh wow look how surprised I am >
  
  Capital doesn't fear us any more. >
  
  They boast record profits as 14000 people are suing them for polluting their drinking water. >
  
  And why do I think the taxpayers will end up footing the bill, win or lose. >
  
  I think free gas for life will balance these profits. >
  
  Yet, 1/3 of the US will continue to blame everything, but the companies and their record breaking profits, as the reason that prices skyrocketed this and last year.  Unfortunately, I have little hope this'll change within my lifetime.  Fingers are crossed it does though. >
  
  Yea, major profit, yet with people struggling due to higher prices across the board, Shell decided to reduce their loyal customer benefits on their phone apps from $.05/gallon down to $.03/gallon. Nice, you Shell dickheads. >
  
  Show me a large corporation that isn't run by a bunch of greedy dickheads. >
  
  Congrats to Shell and all the people who keep telling me that we should've look into alternative energy. >
  
  Guess it wasn’t inflation rising the prices if it was all profit… >
  
  Call it Fakeflation, Greedflation and whatever else you can come up with but don't call it inflation, because it's not.
  What's happening is absolutely criminal and frankly abusive. >
  
  Class action lawsuit time. >
  
  Lol, Shell will probably pay your lawyers to fuck you over. >
  
  Or buy every expert witness available >
  
  Windfall taxes need to be implemented. 
  And stop corporate stock buybacks. 
  The money should be going to employees and lowering gas prices. Better roads. Better schools. Anything but stock buybacks. >
  
  Whilst the rest of the world freezes... >
  
  Record theft and extortion from the customers >
  
  So all those high gas prices were just inflation... >
  
  The fact that governments are not doing anything about this shows whose side they're on. >
  
  Because so many members of the government are in the pockets of the corporations. >
  
  Evil thieves, inflation doesn't exist. These scumbag companies collectively took advantage of the economy in one coordinated heist & the politicians around the world keep watching.
  How much more before we organize to finally eat the fking rich? >
  
  Idk, but I'm fuckin hungry, yo >
  
  Let's give them more tax incentives though. They clearly need to be let off the hook for that. >
  
  I'm sure this had absolutely nothing to do with record high gas prices >
  
  We all saw this coming. It in every industry. Raise prices saying that it’s due to abcd, when in the end, it’s just corporate greed >
  
  No one else sees the issue right...I guess inflation doesn't affect the 1%... >
  
  Not when you vote in people who want to support endless wars so the price of oil sky rockets. Look in the mirror uninformed voter >
  
  At the same time electricity companies very happy as cost of electricity is tied to cost of oil… >
  
  Guess it's time to stop giving them subsidies. >
  
  Respectfully, may they rot in hell >
  
  This is why I bought an electric car. >
  
  45% powered by burning coal? >
  
  I'd love to see your attempt to elaborate such a profoundly ignorant counterpoint. >
  
  How do Republicans still somehow think that gas prices are controlled by a dial on the White House? >
  
  We pursue policy that lowers oil supply in the present, and promises to end it in the near future. 
  But demand only grows. Markets 101
  Don’t act shocked that you getting exactly what you voted for.
  Would you vote for massive investment and policy support for oil to increase supply and market confidence? No? Then stfu >
  
  The math goes like this: typical offshore roughneck makes $100k/yr at $30 per barrel. Same roughneck makes $100k per year at $120 per barrel. If McDonald's decided to charge $20 for a happy meal then, just like the criminalistic big oil CEOs, they will incur record profits. There's no big mystery here. It's very simple price gouging. >
  
  Why didn't they price gouge in 2020 when oil prices were low and oil companies were making losses? >
  
  No one was buying it >
  
  That's not true. Demand for gasoline was lower but US consumers were still buying millions of barrels of gasoline per day. >
  
  Lower demand means lower price to encourage increased demand. On top of that they had not slowed production yet and gasoline has a shelf life of about 3 months, less if there is ethanol in it.
  Russia and OPEC were having a price war so no one wanted to cut production. Trump stepped in and negotiated the end of the price war to protect investors. He convinced them to drastically cut production. When demand increased again OPEC did not increase production to match because some of the member states wanted to drive oil up. >
  
  So you're saying that demand/supply and price have some sort of correlation? >
  
  The fed had better keep raising rates to curb corporate greed... I mean inflation. >
  
  I feel like going ted kaczynski after reading this stuff. I disagree with it on such a fundamental level that I would sacrifice everything to stop them from ruining our world >
  
  Companies can’t keep this up can they?  They will be expected to have better results next year or it will look bad. How can they keep this up? >
  
  Of course they can.
  The basis of capitalism is exploitation of the middle and lower classes. You assume some kind of societal collapse due to corporate greed would make them stop. In reality they just keep going. >
  
  And as the old saying goes: "The rich just keep getting richer and the poor just keep getting poorer". >
  
  The poor get prison. >
  
  I mean, it's not really a secret that we're all being taken advantage of by these companies, the super rich, and politicians. >
  
  So is this kind of shit ever going to stop? Or are we just going to let them do whatever they want forever? >
  
  It's going to go on forever. the PTB keep us divided so we won't come together and do something. >
  
  A major company reporting record profits? Get ready for some layoffs because "recession"
  Didn't a politican (I forgot who) tell people last year that companies like all the gas companies were raising prices and all seeing record profits on the backs of workers with minimal/no raises?
  Last year my record profit company gave me a 2% raise. Will probably be another 2% this year, while telling us we should be thankful to have a job. >
  
  So I understand that energy companies have a history of using inflation to hide profiteering but with the sanctions on Russian imported natural gas and oil, shouldn’t record profits be expected? Hoping someone with a little more insight/knowledge into these industries can shed some light onto this. >
  
  But, should record profits be recorded nearly every fucking quarter? >
  
  Well I think that is inline with my original question; should record profits be expected ever quarter given the circumstances (I.e. sanctions on Russia) causing more of a reliance on American big oil? Or is this just egregious price gouging? >
  
  I'm sure circumstances play a part, and maybe the last few quarters have been affected more than usual, but I believe its mostly greed.
  Look around, and see that the wealthy almost always see increased profits when the rest of us are struggling. There's always a way to make money off of other's misery. >
  
  BP is acquiring all the ev charging infrastructure as well, so we are well fucked. >
  
  Sounds like a good reason for these CEOs to give themselves Another corporate salary raise and drive gas prices Even Higher! >
  
  Just for comparison: you need about $40B to feed all the hungry people in the world for a year.
  Thats about equal to the profit of just one oil company.