More than fifty major American companies in the oil and gas sectors recorded profits exceeding $130 billion from April to September 2026, benefiting from rising energy prices amid the conflict with Iran. Financial results and analyst estimates indicate that these
profits are nearly three times higher than those achieved by the same companies during the same period in 2025. Meanwhile, American consumers spent an additional $147 billion on gasoline and diesel since the start of U.S. and Israeli strikes on
Iran on February 28, equivalent to over $1,100 per household, according to an analysis by the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University. Refining companies benefited the most due to a global decrease in available refineries and increased refining profit margins,
alongside oil producers profiting from higher prices. ExxonMobil and Chevron posted their highest quarterly profits for the third quarter in years, with gains extending to European firms as Shell earned $12.06 billion and TotalEnergies $8.26 billion during the same quarter.
Despite these gains, American companies' profits remained below the levels of 2022, when the average oil price exceeded $100 per barrel.
