The company is profiting from the high oil and gas prices with billions in profits.
(Photo: REUTERS)
Dusseldorf The oil and gas company Shell has announced that it does not want to use the funds from the planned gas surcharge in Germany. As the spokeswoman for Shell Germany, Cornelia Wolber, announced on Sunday in Hamburg, the company did not register for the corresponding payments and will therefore refrain from claiming them.
With the planned surcharge, the federal government wants to support systemically important gas importers. The reason was the troubled company Uniper, which had to be rescued with billions in aid from the state.
The reason for this is the lack of gas volumes from Russia. Because retailers like Uniper have been having to procure replacements at record prices from wholesalers for months, the additional costs are piling up for many of them. Due to existing supply contracts, importers have so far not been able to pass on the higher procurement costs. That changes with the allocation.
From October, commodity traders can have the difference between contractually agreed prices and the current purchase price on the stock exchange reimbursed. The resulting costs are passed on to all gas consumers, both business and private customers. The exact amount of the levy will be announced on Monday. It could be between 1.5 and 5 cents per kilowatt hour.
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In principle, every gas trader is entitled to the surcharge, including companies such as Shell or RWE, which, in contrast to Uniper, are currently making billions in profits. RWE boss Markus Krebber announced last week that he did not want to take advantage of the support.
“We will not accept the gas surcharge and will bear the additional costs of procuring a replacement ourselves,” says the manager. The company is financially stable. In the first half of the year alone, RWE was able to increase its profit (adjusted EBIT) by more than a third to 2.8 billion euros. Shell also made strong gains in the second quarter. The British group announced a record profit of 11.5 billion dollars at the end of July.
Pressure on energy companies is growing
In the past few weeks, due to the high energy prices on the consumer side and the billions in profits at some energy companies, there have been repeated calls for an excess profit tax. Other member states in the European Union have now introduced a special tax on so-called excess profits in times of crisis in order to relieve the burden on the population.
In Germany, the discussion does not seem to have any consequences for the time being. By waiving the levy, RWE and Shell are trying to take the pressure off the debate. How the situation can otherwise end is shown for Shell in its home country Great Britain. In July, the conservative government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced a special tax of 25 percent on crisis profits from activities in the North Sea.
More: Divided energy world: Why RWE makes billions in profits while Uniper needs to be rescued
