Exxon and Chevron Post $26.5 Billion Profit Amid Global Energy Crisis

Chevron reported $12 billion in quarterly earnings—its highest in six years—while ExxonMobil posted $14.5 billion. Exxon further highlighted shareholder distributions totaling $9.4 billion, split between dividends and share repurchases. These results mirror the performance of European majors like TotalEnergies and Shell, which have also seen record gains as global oil prices remain elevated.

The timing of these earnings reports follows a Harris survey indicating that 95% of Americans view the country as being in an affordability crisis, with fuel costs and grocery prices cited as primary stressors. With the national average gas price sitting at $4.10 per gallon, critics are intensifying calls for legislative intervention. A group of Democratic senators recently decried the disparity between corporate gains and public hardship, noting that the current market environment has become a windfall for the energy sector. The Sierra Club has joined the push for a windfall profits tax, arguing that the industry is leveraging its influence with the Trump administration to stall investments in clean energy alternatives that could provide long-term relief to consumers.