La Jornada: Oil industry booming due to crisis in the Middle East

The world’s major oil companies pocketed massive profits in the second quarter of 2026, despite disruptions in the Middle East, but in a context of demand and high energy prices, financial reports reveal.

The income of the five large Western oil companies alone amounted to around 42 billion dollars in the April-June quarter of this year, equivalent to between two and four times the budget that Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) receives only for hydrocarbon operations.

During the April-June period, the price of North Sea Brent oil reached $118 per barrel; while its American counterpart rose to $119.95, when the closure of the Strait of Hormuz intensified, along with the war between the United States and Iran.

Then came the calm of an agreement, which has not come to fruition, and oil prices remained close to $70 in the reference period, levels close to those they were before the conflict in the Middle East at the end of February 2026.

ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest energy and petrochemical companies specializing in the exploration, production, transportation and sale of crude oil, natural gas and advanced chemicals, reported an adjusted quarterly profit of $14.7 billion, its best profit since the third quarter of 2022, when oil prices surpassed $120.

“The second quarter was marked by uncertainty (…) the markets were favorable to us, but our performance reflected the strength of the portfolio and the operating model that we have built over many years,” said Darren Woods, president and CEO of ExxonMobil.

Chevron, an American company that produces oil, natural gas and fuels with Techron technology, in addition to operating service stations and distributing industrial and automotive lubricants globally, achieved profits of $12.1 billion for the second quarter of 2026.

The company highlighted that the demand for oil and gas reached an all-time high, so the size and experience necessary to satisfy the demand was relevant.

The adjusted profits of Shell – a British hydrocarbons company, which has interests in the oil and natural gas sectors, as well as gasoline refining – amounted to $9.8 billion in the second quarter of this year, reflecting strong operating performance across all companies, despite disruptions in the Middle East, the company said.

“In a context of high prices, due to the conflict in the Middle East, TotalEnergies is taking advantage of its integrated model and the diversification of its portfolio to record an adjusted net profit of 6 billion dollars and a cash flow of 9.8 billion dollars in the second quarter, which represents an increase of almost 15 percent compared to the previous quarter,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman of the board of the business group of the petrochemical and energy sector.

BP, the multinational oil and natural gas company, based in the United Kingdom, reported that it obtained a profit in the second quarter of 2026 of 5.7 billion dollars, 2.5 billion more than in the previous quarter.

This increase was driven by high oil and gas prices due to tensions in the Middle East.