There are posts going around social media blaming political leaders and oil and gas giants for record gas prices. The Verify team did some digging to find out how much money the big companies make.
"They’re taking advantage of Putin’s war to raise gas prices on us again … and make a killing,” the post reads.
It includes claims that last year, Shell, Chevron, BP, and ExxonMobil each made record profits.
The post has been shared more than 10,000 times.
Mark asked the Verify team to find out if it was true.
Our sources for this are Shell, Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, and Ed Hirs, who is KHOU's energy expert.
As for the tens of billions of dollar figures laid out in the post, Hirs said those appear to be exaggerated.
“Putin’s war didn’t start last year. It started a few weeks ago, and those profits seemed to be overstated,” Hirs said.
The Verify team checked.
All four oil and gas companies publish their profits each quarter on their websites.
Shell reports it earned $19.3 billion last fiscal year, not $21.7 billion like the post claims.
Chevron reports it made $15.6 billion.
BP posted a profit of $12.8 billion, less than the post claims.
ExxonMobil’s earnings were $23 billion.
Hirs points out those figures need more context.
“Keep in mind that it’s not all off gasoline and diesel. Many of these companies make plastics, they make fertilizer, they make a lot of the products we use day in and day out,” Hirs said.
So, we can Verify the claim is false.
While these companies are making billions of dollars, the numbers being shared are not correct.
“It’s inaccurate. The premises that this is founded on are just wrong,” Hirs said.
It is important to note, the person who created the Facebook post did not include a source for the information.
It’s a good idea to always look to make sure the claims you see online include a reliable source. If not, it’s best not to share it.