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American oil and gas giants raked in massive spring profits while fighting between Iran and the U.S. impeded petroleum shipments and consumers around the world paid more for fuel and confronted shortages.
The conflict, now in its sixth month, halted most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that previously served as a delivery route for one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas. With global supplies constrained, prices for Brent crude, the international standard, soared from about $70 to above $100 a barrel for much of March, April and May, and at one point reached $126.
The money that oil companies accrued between the beginning of April and the end of June could receive extra scrutiny this year. Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices climbed during that period, increasing costs for drivers and airline passengers. Supplies ran low in some countries, leading to sporadic fuel rationing in Australia and government office closures in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The attacks between the U.S. and Iran resulted in huge profits for some of the biggest publicly traded oil companies as they sold their goods for higher prices. ExxonMobil on Friday reported doubling its second-quarter profits to $14.53 billion, up 105% from the same time a year ago. The oil giant, based in Spring, Texas, brought in $116.02 billion in revenue, up 42% from the same time last year.
Chevron, based in Houston, nearly quadrupled its profits to $12.07 billion, up 385% from the same quarter last year, and reported $70.06 billion in revenue, up 56% from the same time last year.
Lawmakers propose taxing major oil producers for war windfalls
Energy companies such as Exxon and Chevron do not set the price of American oil, which ricocheted from $68 to $115 a barrel during the quarter. It’s driven by supply and demand, and what traders, refiners and other buyers are willing to pay.
Nevertheless, Democrats in Congress introduced bills in March to tax major oil producers for profits they show from 2026 onward and have the tax proceeds redistributed to consumers.
“It’s fair to put a windfall profits tax on inordinate windfall profits rather than cut off children’s food programs,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who introduced the Senate version of the legislation.
Whitehouse’s measure and a companion bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California would amend the U.S. tax code to impose a per-barrel excise tax on companies that produced or imported at least 300,000 barrels of oil per day in 2025. The tax would be 50% of the difference between the oil price at the time of the levy and the average price per barrel last year. Similar proposals failed to pass in previous years.
