For consumers, heating and electricity costs have spiked as a consequence of the US-Israeli war on Iran<\/p>\n
As European households struggled to pay their energy bills, the continent\u2019s oil companies more than doubled their profits over the last quarter, reaping the benefits of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
\nEight months to the day since American and Israeli forces began bombarding Iran, Brent crude prices sat at $115 on Thursday, up from $72 pre-war. Dated Brent, the actual on-the-spot price that purchasers are paying for Brent cargoes in the North Sea, was even higher, at $120.
\nThis price spike has driven the cost of petrol, diesel, and heating oil to record highs across Europe. However, it\u2019s been a windfall for Europe\u2019s largest oil companies, according to quarterly profit statements compiled by Germany\u2019s Der Spiegel on Thursday.
\nBritish oil and gas giant Shell recorded a profit of $12.1 billion between July and September, a more than twofold increase on the previous quarter, and on the same quarter last year. Between July and September 2025, Shell made $5.43 billion in profit.<\/p>\n
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France\u2019s TotalEnergies increased profits by 127% to $9.1 billion in the same period, while Spain\u2019s Repsol recorded an almost fivefold increase, from $640.7 million to $3.1 billion. Austria\u2019s OMV, meanwhile, increased profits by 68% to $2.36 billion.
\nGerman Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and his counterparts in Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, have called for an EU-wide windfall tax on the oil giants, similar to the \u201csolidarity levy\u201d imposed by Brussels after the escalation of the Russia\/Ukraine conflict in 2022.
\n\u201cThe Commission has been very reserved on this issue, although several member states have been calling for models to \u200bbe presented for a long time,\u201d Klingbeil said after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Ireland last month. \u201cThis must happen by the next [finance ministers\u2019] meeting in \u200bOctober at the latest,\u201d he added.
\nThe European Commission shot down Klingbeil\u2019s proposal, and October passed with no action from Brussels. \u201cIt is in the hands of member states,\u201d EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters. \u201cMember states can go ahead and take those decisions on the taxing of windfall profits.\u201d
\nDespite Gulf exports reportedly recovering to 80% of pre-war levels, Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities and shipping, the threat of naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and warnings of an \u201cintense\u201d\u00a0new US military campaign against Iran have all played a role in keeping oil prices nearly twice as high as they were at the beginning of February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For consumers, heating and electricity costs have spiked as a consequence of the US-Israeli war on Iran As European households struggled to pay their energy bills, the continent\u2019s oil companies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t