OIL giant Shell added almost $10 billion in extra profit as gas prices remained high. 

The business said its adjusted earnings more than doubled to $9.5bn (£8.2bn) in the three months to the end of September when compared with the year before. 

Profits are down compared with the company’s second quarter, when it made $11.5bn (£9.9bn).

The company made big gains from selling expensive gas in the third quarter of the year, offsetting part of the fall in oil prices. 

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said: “We are delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in global energy markets.”

Shell is now nine months into what is set to be the company’s most profitable year.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine pushed European gas prices to an all-time high as the price of oil soared internationally.

Between April and June, Shell reported record profits of over £9.8bn.

In total, it has reported £25bn in 2022 which is more than double the amount it made over the first nine months of 2021. 

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In May, Rishi. Sunak introduced a windfall tax on oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea. 

However, this has not stopped Shell from handing out billions of dollars to its shareholders this year. 

Critics of Sunak’s plan have said that it did not go far enough.  

On Thursday, Greenpeace called for a “proper tax” on the energy giant’s profits, which it said could help insulate thousands of homes.

“While Shell continues to bank billions, how many more households need to be forced into fuel poverty before the Government wakes up? The only way to address the interlocking cost of living, energy security and climate crises is a street-by-street rollout of home insulation combined with a massive lift in ambition for renewable energy,” the campaign group’s UK senior climate adviser, Charlie Kronick, said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The Conservative Government’s refusal to properly tax these eye-watering profits is an insult to families struggling to pay their energy bills.

“Even the CEO of Shell has admitted that oil and gas companies should be taxed more to help protect vulnerable households.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland's oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said the announcement showed the "scale of the pain" being infliced on people struggling with rising energy costs. 

She said: "The announcement of yet another obscene profit for Shell shows the scale of the pain that these companies are inflicting on the public. 

"While oil companies continue to make record breaking profits, ordinary people are facing skyrocketing energy bills and milions are being pushed into fuel poverty.

"Bosses and shareholders at Shell are being allowed to get even richer by exploiting one of our most basic needs.

"The Scottish Government must use the opportunity of its forthcoming Energy Strategy to chart a clear path away from fossil fuels and towards an energy system that is built on clean, reliable renewables. 

"They must listen to the science which tells us that to meet climate targets in a fair way, fossil fuel extraction needs to be phased out in the next decade."

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Van Beurden continued: "We continue to strengthen Shell’s portfolio through disciplined investment and transform the company for a low-carbon future.

“At the same time we are working closely with governments and customers to address their short- and long-term energy needs.

“Today we are announcing a new share buyback programme resulting in an additional four billion dollars of distributions, which we expect to complete by our Q4 (fourth quarter) 2022 results announcement.”

The news comes following a warning from the head of the National Grid who warned British households that blackouts could be imposed between 4pm and 7pm on "really, really cold" winter weekdays. 

Pettigrew said January and February are the months when blackouts are most likely.