LONDON • Global energy giant Shell said Thursday that its annual profits doubled to a record high last year as oil and natural gas prices soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

London-based Shell posted adjusted earnings of $39.9 billion for 2022 in its financial results for the final three months of the year. Adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter, which exclude one-time items and fluctuations in the value of inventories, rose by 50%, to $9.8 billion, from the same period a year earlier.

Shell is the latest oil company to report bumper profits, which risks reigniting public anger that the fossil fuel industry do more to offset high energy bills for households and small businesses as well as cut climate-changing carbon emissions. U.s.-based Exxon Mobil also posted record annual profits days earlier, while U.K. rival BP and France’s Totalenergies reported huge quarterly profits last year.

The results demonstrate Shell’s “capacity to deliver vital energy to our customers in a volatile world,” new CEO Wael Sawan said in a statement.

It’s the first earnings report presented by Sawan since he took over as chief executive at the start of the year, replacing Ben van Beurden, who stepped down after nine years. Sawan also has reorganized the company’s core business units.

Sawan, who worked for Shell for 25 years, was previously director of its integrated gas, renewables and energy solutions business. His appointment was seen as a part of Shell’s strategy to take a leading role in energy transition despite criticism that it’s been slow to cut emissions.

Shell is raising its dividend payout 15% and buying back $4 billion worth of shares — moves that underline the tension between energy shareholders seen as reaping big profits and consumers weighed down by higher costs. The results were “truly stunning” and “will do nothing to quieten demands for further windfall taxes to redistribute some of the bounty Shell has this year thanks to the Ukraine war.