BlockBeats news, on August 4, U.S. President Trump criticized ExxonMobil and Chevron for reaping massive profits during the Iran conflict that drove up energy prices, stating that the two companies "made too much" and should return part of their profits to the public and lower retail gasoline prices.
ExxonMobil and Chevron reported combined second-quarter profits of $29 billion, averaging about $318 million per day—more than triple the same period last year. The Strait of Hormuz crisis has pushed oil prices higher, while refining margins for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel have also risen. The current U.S. retail average for gasoline is approximately $4.10 per gallon, up more than 30% since before the U.S. and Israel's strikes on Iran earlier this year.
Trump stated that he supports free enterprise but cannot accept the current profit levels in the oil industry. He said that if a company earns 12 times more than the previous year, it should return some of those profits to the public, and called on oil companies to proactively lower costs for consumers before the Iran conflict ends and energy prices decline. On Monday, Chevron's stock fell about 2%, while ExxonMobil dropped 0.6%.
Analysts say that the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since the early 1980s, and commercial crude oil inventories are also declining; neither the government nor oil companies have tools to quickly lower oil prices, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz is key to restoring global supply and driving down oil prices.