Major oil companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, are reporting substantial profit increases driven by the US-Iran conflict, which has caused oil prices to fluctuate between $68 and $115 a barrel and pushed US gasoline prices above $4 a gallon. Chevron nearly quadrupled its profits to $12.07 billion, a 385% increase from the prior year, with revenues rising 56% to $70.06 billion. ExxonMobil more than doubled its second-quarter profits to $14.53 billion, up 105% from last year, and revenue reached $116.02 billion, a 42% increase.
The conflict has significantly boosted refining profits, with refined products like jet fuel and diesel seeing particularly high prices. Refineries that planned to buy crude oil at around $80 a barrel could see profits of $50-$60 per barrel, far exceeding the typical range of $20-$25. Tom Seng, an assistant professor of energy finance at Texas Christian University, noted that the return on refining has "skyrocketed" due to the war, allowing refiners to make considerable profits.
Despite the windfall, the conflict has also introduced challenges. ExxonMobil's output was affected by Iranian strikes on key assets in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, resulting in a loss of approximately 100,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day from downed LNG trains in Qatar. The surge in gasoline prices, which rose to $4.10 per gallon (about 31% above year-ago levels), has led to calls from some Democrats in Congress to tax major oil producers' profits from 2026 onward, with proceeds to be redistributed to consumers. Similar tax proposals have failed in previous years.
