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Union leaders and the Liberal Democrats are among those saying a tax is needed to help ease the cost of living crisis faced by millions of Britons.
Many have slammed the oil giant for enjoying such hefty profits while families are seeing their energy, food and other bills surge.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “They’re not calling it an energy crisis at BP, they’re calling it a bonanza.
“It’s not fair to profit in this way from the misery families are going through with energy price hikes.
“The case for a windfall tax gets clearer by the day.” Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey agreed with Ms O’Grady. He said: “This is about basic fairness.
“It just cannot be right that these energy companies are making super profits without suffering an extra tax, while people out there are too scared to turn their radiators on, and terrified that there will be a cold snap.”
BP is not the only energy company that is benefiting from soaring wholesale energy costs.
Stock market-listed power group SSE told the City yesterday that it had upgraded its profit forecasts for the current financial year.
This is in addition to reiterating plans to pay £863.3million worth of dividend payments to investors.
Ms O’Grady said that UK pension funds are unlikely to benefit from the bumper profits being generated by energy companies.
She said: “UK pension funds hold only six percent of UK-listed shares, so working people will get very little benefit from excess profits.”
The Government has so far ruled out introducing a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies.
The levy would be a one-off tax on firms that were able to benefit from something they were not responsible for, such as high wholesale energy prices.
Neil Shah, research director at City analysts Edison, said that the mega profits generated by BP, its arch-rival Shell and other energy companies will “escalate calls in Parliament for a windfall tax”.
He added: “Despite its impressive financial results, with energy bills forecast to rise by 50 percent in April, BP’s success could have placed it directly in the firing line of public opinion.”
BP chief executive Bernard Looney had described the oil giant as being like a “cash machine” last year.
He has now hit out at calls for a windfall tax on energy companies.
Mr Looney reportedly said that a tax would hit investment in both developing renewable energy sources and boosting gas supplies.
He said: “I don’t think a windfall tax is going to incentivise people to invest in the thing that we need right now.”
At its full year results yesterday, Mr Looney said that BP will ramp up plans to cut its emissions by spending more on low carbon energy generation.
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A spokesman added that it aims to invest heavily in Britain, spending double the amount of UK profits it makes, to speed the nation’s transition to net-zero.
Aside from announcing its highest annual net profit since 2018 on the back of skyrocketing wholesale oil and gas prices, BP also announced plans to hand back £1.1billion to its shareholders this year.
That will come on top of the £795million 2021 final dividend it will pay them in March. In 2020, the oil giant made a £15.8billion loss.
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