By FRANCO CAPALDO and DAN ATKINSON
Last updated at 10:02 PM on 25th October 2008
BP and Royal Dutch Shell will this week report massive third-quarter profits totalling nearly £9 billion, angering motorists who are still paying high prices at the petrol pumps.
BP, Europe’s second-biggest oil company after Shell, is on Tuesday expected to report profits of £4.2 billion for the three months to the end of September – a stunning 130 per cent jump on the same period last year.
Shell is set to report a 48 per cent rise on its third quarter last year to £4.6 billion two days later.
BP is expected to report £4.2 billion profits next week, while Shell is set to report a rise in profits to £4.6 billion
Shell and BP combined were making almost £4 million an hour in the past three months as they benefited from the high price of crude oil.
Oil was trading at $143 a barrel on July 1, but it fell to $99.56 by September 30 and it closed last week at $61.79.
Consumers have been paying record prices on forecourts, though they were offered some relief last week when a petrol price war broke out between the major supermarkets.
Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons all said they had cut prices while Asda pledged to freeze prices for ten days, regardless of the oil price.
At some supermarket forecourts motorists are now paying 90p a litre with the offer of special promotions, its lowest price since April last year.
However, BP confirmed that not all of its garages would follow the supermarkets in slashing prices.
Lower petrol prices even at supermarkets could be shortlived after Friday’s decision by Opec to slash production by 1.5 million barrels a day.
The move will inevitably send pump prices in Britain back to well over the £1 a litre (£4.54 a gallon) level, according to energy analyst Angus McPhail.
Though the crude price initially weakened after the emergency Opec meeting in Vienna, McPhail, of Scottish investment trust Alliance, said: ‘While consumers have been getting a breather at the pump, this is likely to be temporary.’
He said the price was likely to stabilise in 2009 at about $80 to $100 a barrel.
Since April, unleaded petrol has fallen by about 9p a litre (41p a gallon), but with the oil price set to rebound, pump prices will follow suit.
‘It’s not good news for UK drivers,’ he said. ‘So the message is clear – enjoy the pre-Christmas sale.’
McPhail added that oil prices had a natural ‘floor’ of about $80 a barrel, which is the average cost of producing crude oil.
The longer it trades below this, he said, the more likely it was that oil companies would cut production.
McPhail said Opec may cut its output by another 500,000 barrels a day in the New Year if there are signs of weakening Chinese demand.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
