Everything’s more expensive, gas prices will likely stay high for years, and there’s no end in sight to Republicans’ disastrous war with Iran, but if you think that sucks, I have great news! Even though that little war Trump can’t figure out how to win is making you poorer, all the major oil companies are doing great. In fact, they’ve raked in so many billions in windfall profits, America’s latest forever-war sent their Q2 profits through the roof. And what could be more American than the largest corporations swimming in cash while regular people get screwed?
Per Reuters, on Friday, ExxonMobil reported that from April through June of this year, it raked in $14.7 billion in profits. Compared to Q1 2026, profits were 67% higher, and they were more than double what Exxon made in Q2 2025. That was also the oil giant’s biggest quarterly profit since 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices and oil profits soaring.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports Chevron just had its most profitable quarter in six years. ExxonMobil may have made a larger total profit, but with Q2 earnings of $12 billion, which the AP notes was roughly quadruple its Q2 2025 profits. The war may have killed thousands, sure, but at least Chevron’s refining margins set new records.
American oil companies weren’t the only ones taking dives into their vaults full of gold coins. Over on TERF Island, Reuters reports Shell more than doubled its Q2 2025 profits, earning about $9.8 billion in that three-month stretch. It was also the second-most-profitable quarter in Shell’s history, beaten only by Shell’s record-setting Q2 2022. French oil giant TotalEnergies had a great quarter, too, with Reuters reporting that Q2 was its most profitable quarter in three years.
War profiteering
Some other major oil producer, including BP, have yet to report their earnings, but per the AP, Europe’s six largest oil companies reported combined profits of more than $22 billion in Q2, while the U.S.’s top two oil companies reported a combined profit of almost $27 billion. On the other hand, the Center for American Progress‘s latest analysis of military spending and higher prices suggests Republicans have cost the U.S. about $150 billion since the war began.
That estimate includes about $68 billion in higher gas and diesel costs for American drivers, and those higher fuel prices have pushed inflation to its highest level in three years. Even with some temporary relief in June, CAP says Consumer Price Index increases since the Trump attacked Iran “still erased nearly all of workers’ wage gains over the past 12 months.” Throw in higher interest rates, and getting 18 U.S. servicemembers killed has cost each household an estimate $1,100. So far.
As you can imagine, not everyone is thrilled with the world’s biggest oil companies stacking up billions of dollars in windfall profits while a war rages on and half the country struggles to afford basic necessities. Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Ro Khanna have already introduced legislation meant “to curb profiteering by oil companies and provide Americans relief at the gas pump.” In a statement, Senator Whitehouse said:
American consumers are once again getting squeezed at the gas pump as President Trump’s war of choice in Iran sends gas prices soaring and money flowing to his Big Oil donors. We should send any big windfall for Big Oil back to the hardworking people who paid for it at the gas pump. Over the longer term, accelerating our transition to clean energy will lower energy costs, insulate consumers from these kinds of price spikes, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign despots and greedy fossil fuel companies.
That legislation probably won’t go anywhere since Republicans are in charge, but it’s not without precedent — at least in other countries. For example, back in 2022, when oil companies made billions off of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU and UK each taxed them aggressively, clawing back billions.
