While fuel prices hurt consumers, Big Oil made billions every single day

Oil corporations around the globe generated profits in excess of 93 billion dollars during three months of intense US-Iran dispute as increasing crude prices hit consumers’ pockets hard. The profits are making headlines all over the world with United States President Donald Trump also intervening and asking the oil companies in the country to bring their excessively high profits under control.

Oil prices surged during conflict

According to data compiled by The Guardian, the eight biggest oil companies have availed of more than $1 billion in profits every day for the spring quarter. The companies, namely Aramco, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Eni have made more than $7,00,000 during every minute of their operations.

The rise in earnings is connected to the continuing strain in relations between Iran and the US. Worries about Iran controlling the waterways in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the significant routes for shipping oil, triggered an increase in Brent Crude oil prices.

At the peak of the conflict, crude briefly climbed to around $126 a barrel before easing later in June.

Biggest winners of the quarter

Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco posted the highest quarterly earnings, reporting net income of more than $33 billion, a 34 per cent increase from a year earlier.

Among US energy giants, ExxonMobil reported $14.5 billion in profit, while Chevron posted net income of $12.2 billion. Shell recorded its second-highest quarterly profit at $9.84 billion. TotalEnergies reported adjusted net income of $6.03 billion, BP earned $5.73 billion, Equinor reported $3.2 billion and Italy's Eni posted adjusted net profit of $2.16 billion.

The scale of the profits prompted Trump to criticise the industry, saying the biggest US oil companies were "making too much money".

Industry defends earnings

Oil industry representatives argued that companies do not control market prices and said higher earnings are essential for future investment.

“This industry is a price taker, not a price maker,” said Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, reported Mint.

“Because the Strait of Hormuz has been shut down for basically five months, we are, of course, going to be dealing with higher prices at the pump.”

While defending the industry's position, Sommers also praised Trump for constructing the environment that benefited the industry. At the same time, the drastic fluctuations of crude prices due to the war have once more shown that the geopolitical issues can impact the world energy markets and the prices for fuel in no time.