As TotalEnergie published its 2022 numbers today, with a USD 20 billion profit (or USD 36 billion if you exclude the USD 15 billion charge linked to leaving Russia), it is a bit harder to find the tax on income paid in France. The company notes it is paying more than USD 30 billion in taxes worldwide, but most of these are paid directly to the producer countries. Meanwhile,
Oil and gas is a boom and bust business. They need the booms to survive the busts. No one will offer Big Oil handouts when oil is cheap.
Utilities, on the other hand, are boring. They generate steady revenues. They don't need booms to survive, and aren't supposed to suffer badly durings busts. So for them, the high gas prices were a true windfall.
To be the Devil's advocate:
Oil and gas is a boom and bust business. They need the booms to survive the busts. No one will offer Big Oil handouts when oil is cheap.
Utilities, on the other hand, are boring. They generate steady revenues. They don't need booms to survive, and aren't supposed to suffer badly durings busts. So for them, the high gas prices were a true windfall.
Terrible...