Big Oil’s Second-Biggest Profit Haul Poses ‘Awkward’ Problem
- Oil majors’ third-quarter earnings set to top $50 billion
- Companies are holding back on new investment as cash piles up
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Big Oil’s run of record profit will suffer only a minor dent for the third quarter, even as the global economy shows signs of cracking under the pressure of rising inflation and interest rates.
Indications of the slowdown will be evident across their sprawling businesses, from lower crude prices to slumping chemicals margins. Yet the five oil supermajors are still poised to report the second-highest earnings since their formation in the early 2000s, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.