A 350.org analysis found that oil and gas price spikes caused by Trump's Iran war have cost consumers and businesses worldwide over $100 billion — money that flowed directly to fossil fuel companies. The day before, Trump told the Financial Times his “preference would be to take the oil” in Iran, discussing seizing Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub.
Brent crude averaged roughly $97 per barrel in March, up 33% from $69 in February and $65 in January. Reuters reported that analysts raised earnings estimates for Chevron, Shell, and ExxonMobil, with U.S. shale producers benefiting most. The oil industry could rake in $60 billion or more in additional profits this year. European consumers are paying approximately $150 million extra per day at $100+ barrel prices.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse drew the direct line: “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.” Oil and gas executives gave $75 million or more to Trump's 2024 campaign after he asked them to raise $1 billion and promised policy favors.
Oil executives acknowledged they would not boost capital spending on new production despite the windfall — meaning the price relief consumers need is not coming. IEA members released 400 million barrels from emergency reserves, the largest release since the Ukraine invasion, but it has barely dented prices.
350.org CEO Anne Jellema: “Over $100 billion has gone straight into the pockets of fossil fuel companies, while families struggle to afford energy and basic necessities.” The donor-to-war-to-profit pipeline is the corruption story: Trump's donors funded his campaign, Trump started a war, the war raised prices, and the profits flowed back to the donors.
Update (October 30, 2026): ExxonMobil and Chevron reported third-quarter results on October 30 that beat analysts' expectations. Exxon's profit doubled from a year earlier and Chevron's earnings rose more than 180%, NBC News reported. Chevron earned $9.9 billion, or $5.06 a share, on revenue up 36% to $67.8 billion; Exxon's adjusted profit was $4.23 a share against the $4.12 analysts expected, on revenue up 33% to $113.16 billion, and it raised its quarterly dividend to $1.07 and set a $20 billion stock buyback, the AP reported.
Citing Bloomberg, the New York Post reported that Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies together posted $56.3 billion in adjusted third-quarter net income, that Exxon's refining business earned a record $9.05 billion, and that Chevron's refining and fuel marketing division earned $4.93 billion, its best quarter on record. The records are for refining; the sources do not call the companies' total profits records. Citing a New York Times analysis that could not be loaded for this update, the Post reported that more than 50 major U.S. oil and gas companies earned over $130 billion from April to September, nearly three times the less than $47 billion of the same period a year earlier.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods attributed high fuel prices to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, NBC reported. Gasoline has risen 40% since the war began, NBC reported. On August 3 Trump said of the oil companies, “they ought to give some of that back to the public,” and, “they better cut the retail price, the consumer price,” the Post reported. At an October 24 rally he said, “our country is making hundreds of billions of dollars because of what's happened in the Middle East,” and, “I don't give a damn: I'm going to say it. We're making a freaking fortune,” NBC reported (see Diesel Hits Record After Record During the Iran War. Trump Calls It 'a Very Inexpensive Price to Pay' and Weighs an Export Ban). White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the Post, “President Trump's top priority is lowering gas prices for the American people.”