Energy companies Shell and Centrica have been seeing an increase in their profits, which aremultipletimes more than the previous year

Energy companies Shell and Centrica have been enjoying a rise in their profits.Oil and gas company Shell has reported profits of £9.4bn for the first half, which over two times more than last year's £4.5bn.Higher prices, gas trading and refining profits have been branded the cause of Shell's increase in profits.The company said that shareholders will continue to be"in excess of 30% of cash flow from operating activities

".Electric services company Centrica saw £1.3bn operating profits in the first half of the year. This was five times more than their profit's in the first half of last year, which was £262m.Speaking about Shell's profits, energy campaigner Sana Yusuf said that the money"should be used to insulate our homes and help cash-strapped households pay for their heating this winter, rather than developing more fossil fuel projects that roast the planet".Earlier this year it was announced that the oil and gas industry would get a new 25% tax on their profits, in addition to the previous 40% tax rate.Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told CNBC that the profits of this year's first six months can be compared to those in 2013.He said: "So a lot of hard work to make the company a better company. So yes, of course, when then oil prices come back to where they were in 2013, you see stronger results."That's not a windfall. That's the result of a lot of hard work."