Exclusive: oil companies’ profits soared to $174bn this year as US gas prices rose

Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP among group of 24 who resisted calls to increase production but doled out shareholder dividends

The largest oil and gas companies made a combined $174bn in profits in the first nine months of the year as gasoline prices climbed in the US, according to a new report.

The bumper profit totals, provided exclusively to the Guardian, show that in the third quarter of 2021 alone, 24 top oil and gas companies made more than $74bn in net income. From January to September, the net income of the group, which includes Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP, was $174bn.