Tl;Dr: Record profits appear unproportional and exploitative in regard to recent inflation.

Record profits within the oil industry and the subsequent drop in prices after quarterly SEC filings were published suggest that the original record price increases were not inflation. More than likely the majors took advantage of several aspects in the world economy during the last 3.5 years.

Increases in profits were not proportional to inflation. Hell, even supply and demand curves, in conjunction with rig count statistics, suggest production rose with demand until 2022, at which point companies slowed new drilling on already obtained permits (federal and state).