Too much money

Huge! That is the only word to describe the mountain of money being generated by oil firms. Last year, the overseas profits of British oil firms were almost enough single-handedly to finance the UK current account deficit, according to HSBC. This year’s profits from BP, Shell and BG will be bigger still. High oil prices are responsible for this bonanza. But while nobody in the industry is complaining, it gives oil companies a problem: what should they do with all this cash? Some is being ploug...