5 Oil Execs Cashed Out $99 Million in Stock During Ukraine Invasion

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has, in two lengthy weeks, introduced untold struggling and instability. Yet, the place most affordable observers see an escalating tragedy, Big Oil CEOs see a chance.

That’s based on a brand new analysis carried out by nonprofits BailoutWatch and Friends of the Earth, which claims no less than 5 oil executives have cashed out practically $99 million price of inventory since late February. Specifically, the organizations declare Hess Corporation’s CEO offered 650,000 shares price a complete of $65 million between March 4 and March 8. Pioneer Natural Resources Director reportedly offered $10.6 million price of shares between February 24 and March 3. Three different executives—Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield, Marathon Oil CEO Lee Tillman, and Continental Resources President Jack Stark—mixed offered round $23.3 million price of shares.

“The CEOs of these companies have been caught cashing in on war,” Lukas Ross, program manager at Friends of the Earth, shelp in a press release. “If we want to protect consumers from pain at the pump, or preserve a livable climate, it is clear the age of fossil fuels must end.” The report, launched Thursday, comes simply two days after the U.S. introduced it will ban Russian oil imports.

At the identical time, the report finds 18 of the world’s prime oil CEOs have elevated their collective web price by $8 billion since Joe Biden took workplace. Contrary to some predictions, Biden’s local weather agenda isn’t precisely forcing executives to scrap collectively second jobs anytime quickly. The identical can’t be stated for employees. A separate evaluation carried out by BailoutWatch claimed employees at Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Phillips 66 all endured layoffs in 2020, whereas the CEOs for those self same firms gave themselves raises.

Though oil business supporters usually assault Biden’s vitality insurance policies, the president’s local weather report card is, in actuality, a combined bag. Despite cheerleading significant commitments to section out fossil fuels, Biden concurrently reopened a federal program to promote oil and gases leases on federal land and ultimately oversaw one of many largest lease gross sales within the nation’s historical past. Adding to that, an evaluation carried out late final yr by advocacy group Public Citizen decided the Biden administration had authorized extra fossil gasoline leases on public lands than Trump had in any yr of his presidency aside from 2020.

While Biden’s local weather insurance policies definitely signify a step again from Trump’s “drill baby drill” edict, they’re nonetheless a far cry from an oil-crushing boogeyman. Even within the face of rising pro-climate insurance policies, the brand new evaluation demonstrates how oil executives can nonetheless discover paths to show a revenue when pressed.

“The actions of these oil executives make it clear that no matter how much they groan about the Biden Administration’s environmental policies and blame Putin for high prices, their focus remains entirely on lining their own pockets,” BailOutWatch data analyst Christopher Kuveke stated in a press release. “There’s no use looking for other answers in the industry’s school of red herrings.”