U.S. oil majors enjoyed another quarter of monstrous profits on the back of sustained $100-plus per barrel of crude oil and high refining margins.
Chevron and ExxonMobil reported record second-quarter earnings on Friday of $11.6 billion and $17.9 billion, respectively, a huge lift for both oil giants compared to Q2 of last year.
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Chevron’s earnings nearly quadrupled from the $3.1 billion reported a year ago. Exxon’s are also up nearly four-fold from the $4.7 billion earned during the same quarter last year.
The results follow consecutive healthy financial quarters for oil companies of all stripes, which struggled through repeated quarterly losses during the coronavirus pandemic due to low demand for oil and refined products but have since recovered in the face of high prices.
Oil prices remained consistently above $100 per barrel from April to June, largely due to volatility in the market caused by the war in Ukraine and associated market reorientation as nations gradually shun products from Russia, a top-three global petroleum exporter.
The high earnings have angered many environmental groups and Democrats in Congress, who maintain that energy companies are gouging consumers.
President Joe Biden exclaimed in June that Exxon made “more money than God” in the first quarter and pushed it to produce more oil.
Some oil companies have been especially conservative on investing in new production on the grounds that the market is so volatile due to the war and that oil prices are projected to be significantly lower than they are now in the longer term, while others, including Exxon and Chevron, have increased capital expenditures to raise production.
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U.S. companies are by no means the only firms enjoying high profits. French multinational TotalEnergies reported $9.1 billion, more than doubling profits from the same quarter last year, on high oil prices, more liquefied natural gas sales, and strong refining.
Shell announced earnings on Thursday of $11.5 billion for Q2, up from $9.1 billion earned during the first three months of the year. The company’s refining margin rose steeply from $10 per barrel in the first quarter to $28 per barrel in Q2.
