Exxon and Chevron Post $26.5 Billion Combined Profit as Oil Prices Surge

America’s two biggest oil companies just had one of their best quarters in years — and it’s largely because of a war halfway around the world.

ExxonMobil and Chevron reported a combined $26.5 billion in profit for the second quarter of 2026, with Exxon posting its strongest quarterly earnings since 2022. The surge comes as fighting in the Middle East has driven crude and fuel prices sharply higher, squeezing drivers at the pump even as it fattens oil-company balance sheets.

The Numbers, at a Glance

• Exxon: $14.5 billion in net income, more than double what it earned a year earlier
• Chevron: roughly $12 billion in net income — a company record and nearly five times its year-ago profit
• Combined: $26.5 billion, on par with what European rivals TotalEnergies and Shell also reported for the quarter

Both companies beat Wall Street’s expectations, driven by a mix of higher oil prices, stronger refining margins, and record production volumes.

Why Profits Jumped So Much

The short answer: the war between the United States and Iran.

Fighting disrupted Gulf oil production and cut tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, sending crude prices sharply higher. The damage didn’t stop at crude — refinery outages across the Middle East, combined with lost Russian capacity and reduced fuel exports from China, tightened gasoline and diesel supplies even further.

That squeeze shows up directly in the numbers:

• Chevron’s refining profit jumped to $4.9 billion, up from just $737 million a year earlier
• Exxon’s refining business earned $5.5 billion, a sharp turnaround after posting a $1.3 billion loss just one quarter earlier

Both companies also pumped more oil than ever. Chevron’s global production hit 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, helped by its Hess acquisition, while Exxon produced 4.5 million barrels per day, with record output from the Permian Basin.

Consumers Are Footing the Bill

The flip side of Big Oil’s banner quarter is the price at the pump. The national average for gasoline has climbed well above where the Trump administration has said it wants prices to sit, and the White House has ordered a Justice Department review into potential price gouging by oil companies.

The timing has drawn public criticism. The earnings landed just weeks after a Harris survey found that 95% of Americans say the country is in an affordability crisis, with gas and groceries topping the list of costs people can no longer easily manage.

Where Exxon and Chevron Go From Here

Executives at both companies say they’re leaning into the moment rather than pulling back. Chevron’s CEO told CNBC the company is running at full capacity to help meet global demand, and both firms are funneling large sums back to shareholders — Exxon alone returned $9.4 billion last quarter through dividends and stock buybacks.

With Middle East supply risks still unresolved and global inventories tightening, analysts expect oil and refining margins to stay elevated into the second half of 2026 — meaning both bigger profits for producers and continued pain at the pump for everyone else.