Windfall Tax

European Unio

2026-08-24 08:36:00

Six EU countries call for windfall tax on oil companies

Six European Union member states have called for talks on a tax targeting oil companies that benefited from recent energy disruptions. According to BlockBeats, the finance ministers of Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and Austria jointly sent a letter to Ireland, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency. In the letter, they urged EU member states to discuss a mechanism at the bloc’s finance ministers’ meeting in September. The proposed measure would apply to oil companies that earned what the ministers described as “windfall” profits linked to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting shock to energy supplies. The report did not disclose further details on the structure of the mechanism or the tax rate under discussion.

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Policy

2026-07-28 19:38:17

U.S. oil and gas executives sold nearly $400 million in stock as energy shares rose on Iran war

U.S. oil and gas executives have sold close to $400 million worth of company stock since the outbreak of the Iran war tightened energy supplies and lifted oil and gas prices, according to a New York Times report cited by BlockBeats. The figure comes from an analysis by environmental group Friends of the Earth, which reviewed Securities and Exchange Commission filings and said insiders at U.S. fossil fuel companies collectively unloaded shares worth nearly $400 million during the period. Among the companies mentioned, ConocoPhillips executives posted the largest total at about $96 million, followed by executives at LNG exporters Cheniere Energy and Venture Global. The report said stock sales by executives at all three companies have already exceeded their full-year 2025 levels. ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance alone sold nearly $80 million in shares through two transactions in March this year, while Cheniere Energy executives also sold shares around a period when the company’s stock hit a recent high. The report said some analysts view the sales as consistent with normal market incentives because energy company shares have climbed alongside surging energy prices. Critics, however, argue that part of the profit growth stems from higher consumer energy costs linked to geopolitical conflict, and they are calling for a windfall profits tax on energy companies. Such proposals have not won Republican support in the U.S. so far.

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