SHELL makes more profit in a single minute than most people in this country earn in a year, campaigners warned today as profits double on higher oil prices.

The fossil fuel giant revealed Q2 profits of $9.84 billion (£7.37bn) today, a bigger-than-expected 70 per cent surge in half-year earnings, as it capitalised on volatile oil and gas prices driven by US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.

Shell also has a significant stake in the controversial Rosebank oil field in the North Sea, which is pending government approval.

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “Shell makes more profits in a single minute than most people in this country earn in a year.

“As wildfires rage, droughts are declared and temperatures climb, the very fuels heating the planet are also heating company profits, while households pay the price on their bills.”

He warned that long-term energy security “cannot rely” on a “declining” North Sea supply, where firms have already extracted 90 per cent of commercially viable gas.

“The drill more, bill more approach simply locks households into another cycle of gas price shocks,” he said, urging ministers to ensure the energy profits levy funds energy debt relief and a permanent social tariff.

He also called for a structural reform to break the link between electricity prices and volatile gas markets so that homegrown clean power brings bills down for the people who need help most.

Uplift deputy director Robert Palmer slammed Shell for “cashing in” on the war as families and firefighters across Europe battle wildfires.

“This is now maniacal behaviour from a company that is putting its profits ahead of the health of our planet, and the lives and livelihoods of all of us,” he said.

“Governments urgently need to step up, listen to the scientists’ warnings, and stop Shell and others from driving us off a cliff.”

Friends of the Earth’s Danny Gross echoed the calls, calling the profits “outrageous” and built on an energy crisis that has left households struggling with high bills and fuel costs.

“This underlines the urgent need to end our dependence on costly oil and gas,” he said.

Scottish Greens energy spokesman Kristopher Leask called the “blood-stained” profits “truly sickening,” saying: “There can be no justification for an energy system that allows this kind of profiteering, especially when so many are suffering.”