Shell’s 2005 results were covered extensively and somewhat sensationally in the press. The main point to bear in mind is that while £13 billion pounds is undoubtedly a lot of money, and that it may be a record, we still do not have much else to go on.
1 How meaningful is it to you as a newspaper reader to be informed that Shell made a profit of £1.5 million an hour?
2 How far does the article enable you to put the £13 billion profit (\($23bn)\) into context?
3 Is the chief executive justified in appearing to claim that the \($23bn\) was acceptable since 90% of it was earned outside the UK?
4 Can you be certain that Shell was ‘profiteering’, and if so, what do you think should be done about it