Big oil companies like Shell are doing well because international oil prices are so high. The value of crude is currently six times the level it was six years ago, and last year alone the price of oil went up forty percent. This has had a spectacular impact on the bottom line at the major oil producers. First off this week was America's Exxon Mobil which reported the highest annual profits of any company ever. Now Shell goes into the record books in a slightly lesser way with the biggest profit ever made by a firm listed on the London stock exchange.