BP's eye-watering £23bn profits could fuel every household in Eastwood and Kimberley for 170 years

The oil company logged record post-tax profits of $27.7 billion, £23bn, last year, more than double its 2021 earnings and outstripping the previous record of about $26bn, £21.6bn, in 2008.

The figures come in the wake of Shell also announcing record profits of almost $40bn, £33.2bn, with opposition parties and campaign groups urging the Government to act while the general public faces a cost-of-living crisis.

Labour shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband has called for a "proper windfall tax", which would raise money to help people with their bills.

To see just how far BP’s profits would go, we worked out how many years the energy giant could fuel every home in your area. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy figures show households in Broxtowe borough consumed a total of 650 gigawatt-hours of gas and 168GWh of electricity in 2021.

At the current charging rates capped by the Government with the Energy Price Guarantee, the total cost of fuelling every home in Broxtowe in 2021 was £135m. It means BP would be able to pay the bill of every household in the area for about 170 years.

Mr Miliband said: “What is so outrageous is that as fossil fuel companies rake in these enormous sums, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak still refuses to bring in a proper windfall tax that would make them pay their fair share. In just eight weeks’ time, the Government plans to allow the energy price cap to rise to £3,000. Labour would use a proper windfall tax to stop prices going up in April.”

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: “Ministers are letting big oil and gas companies pocket billions in excess profits, but they are refusing to give nurses, teachers and other key workers a decent pay rise.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves accused the Government of “shielding the energy companies” and called on the Government to introduce a windfall tax.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt described his department’s plan as “balanced and fair”. He said: “We will be responsible because we want lower bills, more investment in transition and more money for public services like the police.”