"The nation’s biggest oil and gas companies have significantly increased stock buybacks and dividends since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, raising questions about whether the firms are using wartime profits to enrich investors instead of curbing Americans’ pain at the pump, three liberal advocacy groups write in a new report shared exclusively with The Climate 202.
The report released today by Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen and BailoutWatch turns up the heat on the fossil fuel industry ahead of two high-profile congressional hearings this week, when Democrats plan to scrutinize the industry's windfall profits amid rising crude prices sparked by the war in Ukraine.
The three groups looked at Securities and Exchange Commission filings and public statements from the 20 largest U.S.-headquartered oil and gas companies, including Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy, EOG Resources and ExxonMobil.
The groups' analysis focused on buybacks, which often raise a company's stock price, rewarding its shareholders. Critics say that buybacks inflate executive compensation while doing nothing to improve a company's products and services. The groups also examined dividends, the quarterly payments that investors receive for owning shares."
Maxine Joselow reports for the Washington Post with Vanessa Montalbano April 5, 2022.
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