UNION leaders have attacked Tory weakness on taxing big oil companies after BP announced record-high profits off the back of the energy crisis. 

As millions struggle to heat their homes across the UK, the energy giant revealed it raked in $27.7bn (£23bn) in profit in 2022 — more than double the previous year. 

The firm also admitted that it will miss its carbon emissions pledge, saying it was now aiming to reduce emissions by 20-30 per cent by 2030, down from 35-45 per cent, and will continue to invest in oil and gas. 

It comes after oil firm Shell also reported bumper profits last week, totalling an eye-watering $40bn (£33bn) — the highest in the company’s 115-year history — with both firms benefiting from the sharp rise in energy prices linked to the war in Ukraine. 

The obscene profits have sparked renewed calls for PM Rishi Sunak to toughen the government’s “inadequate windfall tax on energy firms.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the Tories’ Energy Profit Levy, introduced in May 2022, was “too weak to deliver.”

She said: “Contrast the Sunak government’s weakness and dithering with the Norwegian government, which takes billions more out of North Sea oil profits than the UK.

“In Sunak’s Britain, millions cannot afford to heat their homes and businesses can’t pay their fuel bills, while Big Oil is laughing all the way to the bank.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said struggling families are being treated like cash machines.

“Ministers are letting big oil and gas companies pocket billions in excess profits,” he said. 

“But they are refusing to give nurses, teachers and other key workers a decent pay rise.”

Labour also accused ministers of allowing energy firms to “make profits that are the windfalls of war, while ordinary families and businesses pay the price.”

In the Commons today, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was shielding the energy companies and called for a “proper windfall tax to keep people’s energy bills down.” 

In October, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt increased the rate North Sea oil and gas firms must pay on profits from 25 to 35 per cent. However, critics say the rate is too low and claim fossil fuel companies can exploit a loophole to wriggle out of paying their fair share. 

BP also reported paying out more than $14bn (£11.8bn) to shareholders in 2022.

This meant the firm spent over 14 times as much on shareholder dividends than it invested in low-carbon energy, according to analysis by the think tank Common Wealth. 

Adrienne Buller, the think tank’s director of research said: “Rather than pivoting toward a clean energy future, these results once again show BP doubling down on fossil fuel investment for the long term.

“With each set of results, we amass more evidence that the market won’t deliver a sustainable future.”

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said BP’s decision to continue investing in oil and gas, despite its huge contribution to historic global emissions, was “sickening.” 

“What’s even worse is that more than half of this is leaving the pockets of struggling families and heading straight to super-rich shareholders, when millions of people can’t even afford to heat their homes,” he said. 

“Enough is enough. It’s time to bring in a polluters’ tax and hold BP truly accountable for the destruction they’ve wrought across the planet.”

BP boss Bernard Looney said the company was “helping provide the energy the world needs” while investing in the transition to green energy.