Exxon and Chevron Post USD 26.6 Billion Quarter as Hormuz Blockade Lifts Crude

ExxonMobil and Chevron reported combined second-quarter 2026 profits of about USD 26.6 billion, driven by the rise in crude prices during the war with Iran. Yet the industry plans to spend less on oil and gas production this year than in 2025, according to an analysis by Wood Mackenzie, because of uncertainty over the conflict.

ExxonMobil earned USD 14,525 million between April and June, more than double the same period of 2025 and its largest quarterly profit in four years. Chevron took USD 12,072 million over the same period, almost five times the year-earlier figure and its biggest quarterly profit in at least six years.

The United States and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February 2026, and Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passes. Brent crude topped USD 120 per barrel after the conflict began and is now around USD 90 per barrel.

The two companies moved in opposite directions on volume. Chevron's output rose 20% year on year in the second quarter to a record 4.07 million barrels per day, driven by its operations in the Permian Basin and the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil's production fell 1.7% to 4.51 million barrels per day, partly because of interruptions in the Middle East.

Over the first half, ExxonMobil booked net profit of USD 18,708 million, up 26.4%, on revenue of USD 201,155 million, up 22.2%. Chevron earned USD 14,282 million between January and June against USD 5,990 million a year earlier, with revenue rising from USD 92,432 million to USD 118,662 million.

Chevron also expects to recover in early 2027 all of the debt owed by the Venezuelan state, and its three joint ventures with PDVSA raised output 15% to about 280,000 barrels per day.

The restraint on capital budgets rests on price visibility rather than on cash. "There is too much uncertainty about prices and how all of this is going to evolve," said Tom Ellacott, senior vice president of corporate research at Wood Mackenzie.

Wood Mackenzie estimates the sector as a whole could take windfall profits of USD 425,000 million this year if crude averages USD 90 per barrel. That estimate sits at the current Brent level, not the USD 120 peak, meaning the projected windfall assumes no further escalation premium beyond where the market trades now.