The executive salaries of top oil and gas producers in the US and Europe have been released over the past month, highlighting how the companies are recovering from the dramatic decline during the Covid-19 pandemic that took hold in 2020.

Although supermajor ExxonMobil is massively ahead of the pack in total compensation for its chief executive Darren Woods at $35.91 million in 2022, UK supermajor BP had the highest increase in relative compensation among top producers.

BP chief executive Bernard Looney made about £10.03 million ($12.42 million), up a whopping 125% from 2021. Looney’s performance shares were 11 times those of 2021.

Tim Duncan, chief executive of US independent Talos Energy, also had a significant increase, earning $12.4 million in 2022, up 69.7% from 2021. With his salary increasing a measly 3%, the largest increase was seen in his stock awards, which increased 95.3%.

ExxonMobil’s results were similar, with Woods’ total compensation increasing by 52% from 2021 to 2022, mostly brought on by his 85% increase in stock awards.

Both Talos and ExxonMobil showed a vast increase from their 2020 compensations, when stock awards were lower for both and Woods took home no bonus for that year.

Shell and TotalEnergies both showed decent compensation increases as well. Shell’s former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, made $12 million in 2022, an increase of 37.4% from 2021. Newcomer Wael Sawan will make almost the same base salary as van Beurden for 2023, just £20,000 less.

TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne made €4.13 million ($4.5 million), a 20.1% increase from 2021.

Here is a summary of the total compensation for each chief executive:

• ExxonMobil, Darren Woods: $35.91 million, a 52% increase from 2021
• Chevron, Mike Wirth: $23.57 million, a 4.3% increase from 2021
• ConocoPhillips, Ryan Lance: $19.97 million, a 16.4% decrease from 2021
• Talos, Tim Duncan: $12.43 million, a 69.7% increase from 2021
• BP, Bernard Looney: £10.03 million, a 125% increase from 2021
• Shell, Ben van Beurden: $12 million, a 37.4% increase from 2021
• EQT, Toby Rice: $11.6 million, a 31.4% decrease from 2021
• TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne: €4.13 million, a 20.1% increase from 2021
• Equinor, Anders Opedal: $2.04 million, a 0.62% decrease from 2021

Not all companies are recovering as well as BP, ExxonMobil and Talos. EQT and ConocoPhillips both showed a significant decrease in total compensation for their chief executives in 2022.

EQT had the biggest decrease for its chief executive Toby Rice, who has only ever taken home a $1 salary since starting in 2019. However, with stock awards and other compensation, Rice made $11.6 million in 2022, down 31.4% from 2021. However, this still shows recovery from 2020, when Rice made just $7.53 million in compensation.

Ryan Lance, chief executive of major ConocoPhillips, made $19.97 million, which is a 16.4% decrease from 2021, and a 28.8% decrease from 2020 levels.

Chevron’s executive compensation has remained steady for chief executive Mike Wirth, with salary, stock awards and total compensation each increasing between 2% and 6%. Wirth’s total compensation was $23.57 million.

Equinor’s compensation for chief executive Anders Opedal was similarly steady, decreasing 0.62% to $2.04 million. However, this is still a huge increase from 2020 levels. Opedal’s 2021 compensation showed a 152% increase from 2020.