U.S. President Donald Trump criticised major oil companies, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil, on Monday for earning what he described as excessive profits as renewed tensions with Iran pushed global energy prices higher.
Despite disruption to oil supply routes in the Middle East, rising crude oil and gas prices have delivered strong second-quarter earnings for some of the world’s largest energy companies.
“They’re making too much money. Based on a shortage, they’re making too much money. I don’t like it,” Trump told reporters.
Saudi oil giant Aramco reported a 44 per cent increase in second-quarter net profit to $32.69 billion. Higher prices for crude oil, refined products and chemicals offset the effects of the regional conflict.
The company said it maintained a supply reliability rate of 98.4 per cent despite disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Chief Executive Amin Nasser said Aramco kept exports flowing by using its East-West Pipeline, storage facilities and export terminals.
The pipeline, which carries oil to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, became a vital alternative route after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran caused the largest disruption in the history of global energy markets.
However, Aramco said the route was now also under pressure after Iran-aligned Houthi forces announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in the Red Sea last month.
The increase in energy-sector profits extended beyond Saudi Arabia.
British energy company BP said its underlying replacement cost profit more than doubled to $5.73 billion in the second quarter.
The company also raised its dividend and continued restructuring its portfolio through several asset sales, including the planned sale of its U.S. biogas business.
Trump said oil companies should return some of their profits to consumers by reducing retail fuel prices.
The U.S. president specifically accused Chevron and Exxon Mobil of earning excessive profits, saying one company had made 12 times as much as it had during the same period a year earlier.
"When we're finished with Iran, you're going to see the prices drop through the floor," Trump said.
"But they made too much money. Chevron, too much money. Exxon Mobil too much. Too much money. When you look at one company, where they made 12 times what they made the year before? They ought to give some of that back to the public. And they better cut the retail price. The consumer price," he added.
Meanwhile, Trump also urged the UK to expand energy production in the North Sea, arguing that doing so would strengthen the country’s economy.
“You open it up, you’ll be a wealthy country. You keep it closed, you’re going to be a bankrupt country, which is what you are now. Essentially, you’re a bankrupt country,” he said.
The latest financial results highlight the energy industry’s ability to adapt to disrupted supply routes and volatile global markets, while rising fuel prices and corporate profits continue to attract political criticism.
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