Overview
- On Friday, July 31, ExxonMobil and Chevron reported a combined roughly $26.5 billion in second‑quarter profits driven by higher crude prices and record refining margins.
- Renewed U.S. strikes and regional attacks have limited flows through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el‑Mandeb, reducing available crude and refining capacity and forcing governments to tap strategic reserves.
- Company executives warned refined products, especially diesel, will remain tight into the third quarter, a squeeze that has kept U.S. pump prices above $4 per gallon and prompted President Trump to order a Justice Department probe of industry pricing.
- Markets and firms have responded by rerouting tankers, drawing down emergency stockpiles and boosting U.S. output — notably record Permian production — but those measures have left global inventories thinner and markets exposed to fresh shocks.
- The profits have intensified political pressure for measures such as windfall taxes or export curbs and raised risks for fuel‑importing economies like Pakistan and Bangladesh that face near‑term inflation and supply stress.