BP’s windfall profits should be shared via a windfall tax. The same goes for the other oil giants

Shareholders have benefitted handsomely from surplus profits linked to surging oil prices as a result, in part, of the war in Ukraine, writes James Moore

BP: lighting up the City with windfall profits (PA)

BP’s and its peers’ results are also likely to attract further political attention, which is becoming a real risk for the future,” said Brewin Dolphin investment manager Stuart Lamont in reaction to the oil giant’s bumper second-quarter profits.

The risk, of course, is to the company’s investors and executives because those results certainly should attract further political attention.

BP’s booming numbers were announced hot on the heels of Shell’s record-breaking results. The oil major revealed it had made $9.3bn (£7.6bn) in just three months, including what it described as $6.6bn of “surplus cashflow”.