{"id":8269,"date":"2026-08-04T01:36:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T01:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/petrol-prices-strain-us-households-as-oil-giants-chevron-exxon-profits-soar\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T01:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T01:36:42","slug":"petrol-prices-strain-us-households-as-oil-giants-chevron-exxon-profits-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/petrol-prices-strain-us-households-as-oil-giants-chevron-exxon-profits-soar\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrol prices strain US households as oil giants Chevron, Exxon profits soar"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United States President Donald Trump has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/8\/3\/trump-slams-chevron-ceo-demands-immediate-reduction-in-us-fuel-prices\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lambasted the nation\u2019s biggest oil<\/a> and gas giants as Houston, Texas-based Chevron reported record earnings while consumers struggle with soaring petrol prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t like it,\u201d Trump told reporters on Monday in reference to the blockbuster second-quarter earnings, as his war on Iran has kept oil prices high for months.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/8\/2\/capital-one-cites-anti-money-laundering-concerns-in-trump-organization-case\">Capital One cites anti-money laundering concerns in Trump Organization case<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/8\/3\/japan-and-us-confirm-rare-joint-intervention-to-prop-up-yen\">Japan and US confirm rare joint intervention to prop up yen<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/8\/3\/pentagon-boosts-patriot-thaad-interceptor-output-amid-stockpile-strain\">Pentagon boosts Patriot, THAAD interceptor output amid stockpile strain<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cChevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much. Too much money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s comments came on the heels of an interview Chevron CEO Mike Wirth gave on the Fox News programme Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president berated Wirth for not crediting his administration\u2019s efforts to help the oil industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only thing he [Wirth] conveniently forgot to mention is that, without the genius, foresight, strength, and stability of the TRUMP Administration, the Oil Industry, and our Country itself, would be DEAD!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chevron reported its highest quarterly profits in six years on Friday. Adjusted earnings per share came to $6.06, or $12bn, as tensions between the US and Iran strained global oil supply chains in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world\u2019s energy supply travelled through before the war, sending prices soaring.<\/p>\n<p>Chevron rewarded its employees. Wirth praised them for their work and said in an email that most workers would receive a bonus equivalent to half their monthly base pay, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an internal email.<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera has not been able to independently confirm Reuters\u2019 reporting.<\/p>\n<p>Chevron\u2019s strong earnings come as the company is less reliant on Middle Eastern production operations than its competitors, allowing it to reap the benefits of higher global oil prices during the quarter. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, was 23 percent higher than in the first three months of the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing less dependent on the Strait of Hormuz is definitely helping them. It\u2019s also the refining they\u2019re able to do here. The fact that Chevron has less than 5 percent exposure there gives it some protection,\u201d Bill Drolet, executive director, mergers &#038; acquisitions at The Post Oak Group investment bank, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore than 70 percent of Chevron\u2019s production is concentrated in America, and that\u2019s where it\u2019s making its biggest margins right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chevron also benefitted from the president\u2019s move to open up oil production in Venezuela after US special forces abducted the country\u2019s president, Nicolas Maduro, in January. Chevron had stayed on in the South American nation even after former President Hugo Chavez nationalised oil production.<\/p>\n<p>Chevron did not respond to Al Jazeera\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Competitors also performed well. ExxonMobil on Friday posted its best quarterly profits in four years, but they fell short of analysts\u2019 expectations. Earnings raked in $9.2bn.<\/p>\n<p>Exxon did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Valero Energy reported its highest ever second-quarter profit, with net income coming in at $3.7bn as US refiners reap the benefits of tensions choking oil production across the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>But those benefits have not reached consumers, who are feeling the strain at the petrol pump. Petrol prices are above $4 a gallon (3.78 litres) across the US. The average price for a gallon of petrol is $4.09, down from $4.11 this time last week, but up from $3.82 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices.<\/p>\n<p>By comparison, when the US and Israel first struck Iran in late February, the average price was $2.98.<\/p>\n<p>An analysis from Bank of America published in April showed consumers spending as much as 4.2 percent of their income on petrol in March, up from 3.9 percent in 2019. Lower-income earners are hit much harder, with more than 10 percent of households spending more than 10 percent of their monthly income on petrol.<\/p>\n<p>This comes as pressure on the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues. The reserves hit their lowest level since 1983 this week, according to the Department of Energy. They fell by 2.8 million barrels over the week to 304.8 million barrels.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"political-pushback\">Political pushback<\/h2>\n<p>The condemnation of the oil industry has come from across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA decent industry would say, \u2018this was money we didn\u2019t earn, it\u2019s a windfall we get from our cartel pricing scheme.\u2019 Not these corrupt, greedy and grasping rogues,\u201d Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote in a post on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenWhitehouse\/status\/2084057796677353726\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">X on Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But lowering prices might not be as easy. Beyond pressure from consumers, companies across the corporate United States are beholden to a concept called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2023\/5\/17\/is-shareholder-supremacy-driving-the-layoffs-in-tech\">shareholder supremacy<\/a>. This means that while lowering prices might be in the best interest of pinched consumers, it may not be possible given the legal framework and companies\u2019 fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve [oil companies] got shareholders they\u2019re responsible for. They could reduce share buybacks or dividend payouts, but right now, I don\u2019t see oil companies doing much,\u201d\u00a0Post Oak Group\u2019s Drolet said.<\/p>\n<p>He said if he were advising a member of Congress or the president, providing relief to consumers might be easiest by suspending the so-called gas tax, which varies by state. In Texas, for example, the gas tax accounts for 20 cents per gallon, while in California, it is 63 cents per gallon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom a political standpoint, the best thing our government can do is suspend gas taxes, especially in California. If they put a temporary hold on taxes, that would help everybody get through this challenging time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera asked the White House if that policy is on the table, but the press office did not respond.<\/p>\n<p>Heading into the US midterm elections, cost of living remains among the highest concerns for consumers. In a Washington Post\/Ipsos poll last month, 54 percent of respondents said that high prices and the economy were a chief concern heading into November.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey see the price of fuel and net profit for Exxon and Chevron and feel that they are abusing US consumers, especially as US consumers have access to the correct fuel, whereas other areas around the world have shortages [such as Germany, Philippines],\u201d Babak Hafezi, professor of international business at American University, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is that as the war [On Iran] progresses, the impacts of the lack of supply will create full price and supply shocks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amid Trump\u2019s comments, Chevron\u2019s stock is on the downturn in midday trading, tumbling more than 2 percent from the market open. However, it is up more than 1.1 percent over the last five days.<\/p>\n<p>ExxonMobil is down 0.5 percent for the day and 0.1 percent over the last five days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United States President Donald Trump has lambasted the nation\u2019s biggest oil and gas giants as Houston, Texas-based Chevron reported record earnings while consumers struggle with soaring petrol prices. \u201cI don\u2019t like it,\u201d Trump told reporters on Monday in reference to the blockbuster second-quarter earnings, as his war on Iran has kept oil prices high for &#8230; <a title=\"Petrol prices strain US households as oil giants Chevron, Exxon profits soar\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/petrol-prices-strain-us-households-as-oil-giants-chevron-exxon-profits-soar\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Petrol prices strain US households as oil giants Chevron, Exxon profits soar\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}