“Unearned profit” is an interesting idea, no?
From The Guardian:
The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper.
The conflict pushed the price of oil to an average of $100 (£74) a barrel in March, leading to estimated windfall war profits for the month of $23bn for the companies. Oil and gas supplies will take months to return to pre-war levels and the companies will make $234bn by the end of the year if the oil price continues to average $100. The analysis uses data from a leading intelligence provider, Rystad Energy, analysed by Global Witness.
Unearned profit, eh?
One of those new-fangled AI things tells us that:
Global investment in fossil fuels is expected to slightly decrease but remain significant, totaling approximately $1.1 trillion in 2025.
Gas and oil fields (and coal mines) tend to last 30 to 50 years. So, 40x $1.1 tr seems like a reasonable stab at the total historic investment, at current prices, into the fossil fuel industry. $44 trillion. Upon which $234 bn - that’s 0.5% (yes, half a percent, not 50) - is an “unearned” profit?
Half a percent?
No doubt, any and all of those numbers can be fiddled with, shaded. But we think what is actually being proven is that - as ever - you can point a Guardianista at reality but you cannot make them think.
Tim Worstall