The CEO of Shell is among oil bosses who have raked in millions of pounds as the value of their shareholdings soared amid the illegal US war on Iran.

Wael Sawan saw his shares in Shell gain £4.7m since the US and Israel first attacked the country in late February, research by Greenpeace shows.

He cashed out £1.3m worth of shares on 22 May, the day before Donald Trump said a deal to cease hostilities had almost been reached.

Bosses from TotalEnergies, Harbour Energy and Equinor also raked in millions as oil prices surged due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major global transport route for oil and natural gas.

North Sea oil CEOs have added a total of £19m to their personal fortunes via share price increases since the war began, Greenpeace said.

The windfalls come as oil giants report a bumper set of financial results whilst households in the UK and across the world struggle with rising energy bills.

Equinor CEO Anders Opedal has seen his shares rise by £1.03m amid the war, while TotalEnergies’s Patrick Pouyanné enjoyed an £8.4m boost to his shareholdings, selling £3.1m in shares and savings one month after the war began.

“Cashing out millions in personal shares while the market drives millions of people into energy poverty – all while their companies’ operations supercharge climate breakdown – is crisis profiteering at its most cynical,” said Rudy Schulkind, political campaigner at Greenpeace UK.

Equinor and Shell were recently granted permission by Andy Burnham’s government to start new drilling in the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. Both are also set to benefit in the event that Rosebank oil field is approved.

Oil companies in the US have earned more than $130bn in profits during the war, according to an analysis last week from the New York Times.

Trump’s decision to capitulate to Israel and attack Iran appears to have lost him a lot of support –  and is believed to have played a key role in the Republicans’ resounding defeat in the midterms on Tuesday.

The US president campaigned on an anti-war platform while promising to lower people’s bills.

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