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.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has returned to the South American nation almost a year after she secretly left the countr...
Uzbekistan summoned Iran’s ambassador following claims by several Iranian diplomatic missions that the historical and architectural heri...
Kazakhstan marks Republic Day on 25 October with an ambitious economic agenda and a growing partnership with Azerbaijan, as the two Caspian neighbo...
Around 11,000 people joined a demonstration in Orléans on Saturday against the National Rally congress, according to the local prefecture.
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday described a deadly shooting in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, west of Paris, as a racist attack and ‘a turning point’ for the country.
Israeli forces have maintained a tight closure on Hebron in the occupied West Bank for a second day, with Palestinian media reporting home raids, mass detentions and dozens of residents forced outside following a shooting incident the day before.
German police have detained a suspect after a major fire broke out at the historic Kehlsteinhaus, known as the “Eagle’s Nest”, a mountain retreat once used by senior Nazi officials, including Adolf Hitler.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has returned to the South American nation almost a year after she secretly left the country to travel to Norway for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
Riot police fired tear gas at protesters in France’s largest cities and more than 1,300 people were arrested during demonstrations against the rising cost of living on Saturday (24 October). Police also used a water cannon on a group of around 500 hooded youths in Paris, after the main rally ended.
Ukraine's military has been hit this month by restrictions on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite communications system. Its receivers stopped functioning when mounted on fast-moving objects such as drones, jeopardising some combat and air defence missions.
At least five people were killed and several others injured in overnight attacks across Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, 25 October, as officials reported strikes on residential areas and industrial facilities, while Moscow claimed to have targeted logistics infrastructure and a cargo vessel.
Protests against war and rising living costs took place in major Italian cities on Saturday, with some incidents of violence and clashes, a week after unrest erupted across the country.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment