Trump Attacks Oil Giants' Profits, Demands Price Cuts as Crude and Energy Stocks Slide

US President Donald Trump said at the White House on August 3 that large oil companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, had earned excessive profits from oil price gains caused by the war with Iran, and said these companies should return part of their profits to the public while lowering retail gasoline prices. Trump said that although he supports the free enterprise system, he is dissatisfied with the current profit levels of the oil industry.

ExxonMobil and Chevron released their second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 31. Chevron's net profit reached $12 billion, up nearly 400% from $2.5 billion in the same period of 2025. ExxonMobil's net profit was $14.5 billion, more than double the $7.1 billion reported in the same period of 2025. The two companies earned a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter. The earnings reports showed that the sharp profit growth was mainly driven by higher international oil and gas prices and improved refined product sales margins.

Since the large-scale US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28, international oil prices have continued to rise. US crude oil futures have risen cumulatively approximately 20%, with an average settlement price of about $92 per barrel from April to June, approximately 27% higher than in the first quarter. Data from the American Automobile Association showed that the national average retail gasoline price on August 3 was about $4.10 per gallon, nearly 40% higher than the $2.98 per gallon on February 27 before the war broke out. Crude oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen sharply, with shipping data showing daily average transit volumes dropped to 2.57 million barrels in the week beginning July 20, down about 61% from two weeks earlier.

The American Petroleum Institute, representing the US oil industry, issued a statement that day saying current high oil prices are driven by global supply and demand conditions and uncertainty over key shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, not by any single company. Trump also criticized Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth on social media that day for not mentioning the support role of Trump administration policies for the oil industry in a television interview. Wirth had earlier said in the interview that Chevron's second-quarter performance growth partly reflected record US oil production and refinery throughput, and acknowledged the government's policy role in expanding energy supply.

Trump ordered the US Department of Justice in June to investigate whether oil companies had engaged in price gouging. The US Department of Energy released nearly 3 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last week, bringing reserves to their lowest level since February 1983. The department had previously announced it would release 218.5 million barrels to the market, with about half already shipped from Gulf Coast storage facilities. Core OPEC+ members held an online meeting on August 2 and agreed to increase output by another 188,000 barrels per day.

On August 3, Chevron shares fell about 2% and ExxonMobil shares fell about 0.6% on Trump's remarks and declining crude prices. International crude oil futures closed down about 5% that day, with the WTI September contract settling 5.11% lower and the Brent October contract settling 4.73% lower. Trump said the first phase is opening the strait and the second phase is denuclearization, and Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons.

Multiple polls show Trump's approval rating at a low point of his term. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted July 23-27 showed his approval at 32%; another poll of 1,225 respondents showed 34%; and a joint AP-NORC poll showed 33%, unchanged from April. US midterm elections will be held on November 3, when all 435 House seats and one-third of the 100 Senate seats will be contested.