Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profit

LONDON (AP) — The pay package for Shell’s CEO jumped by half last year to nearly $12 million. Oil and gas companies have made record profits from skyrocketing energy costs that have driven a cost-of-living crisis. In figures released Thursday, Shell paid Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds, or $11.5 million, in 2022 as company profits doubled to an all-time high of $40 billion. Russia’s war in Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring. Demands are increasing for oil and gas companies to do more to reduce high energy costs that are hurting consumers and small businesses. Opposition lawmakers in Britain have called for an expanded tax on the windfall profits of energy companies.