Big oil's war profits may have a silver lining after all

Drivers face rising fuel costs as conflict involving Iran sends oil prices soaring. A personal account describes someone left in tears after paying for car fuel needed for commuting to work. The costs strain families’ ability to reach the next paycheck. Fossil fuel companies are described as earning large war-related profits taken from consumers and energy bill payers. The same companies and countries are also portrayed as having delayed climate action and maintained dependence on oil and gas. Reported figures claim the world’s top oil and gas companies earned about $30 million per hour in the first month of the conflict due to oil price spikes, with major profit increases at Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, and Aramco despite restricted flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Drivers are facing rising fuel costs as conflict in Iran sends oil prices soaring. Photograph: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty $30m an hour: that's the pure, unearned profits banked by the world's top 100 oil and gas companies in the first month of the conflict in Iran, purely due to the spike in the oil price. I revealed this exclusive analysis, commissioned by the Guardian, in April while it was based on the best data in the industry, it was an estimate. Now the first numbers are in, and that $30m may have been a major underestimate."

"Shell's profit for the first three months of 2026 more than doubled to $6.9bn, as did BP's, to $3.2bn. TotalEnergies profits also surged by more than 50%, up to $5.8bn. Even in the Gulf itself, where the flow of oil through the strait of Hormuz has been heavily restricted, some companies have still flourished. Aramco, the state oil company of habitual climate obstructers Saudi Arabia, saw its profits soar by 26% to $33.6bn in the first quarter."

"A friend of mine was recently left in tears after filling up the car she relies on to drive to work. Thanks to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, prices at the pumps have soared. She wasn't sure how her family was going to make it to the next paycheck. It is a personal story and a distressing one, but the big picture is truly obscene. Fossil fuel companies are raking in monstrous, unearned war profits taken from the pockets of people like you, me, my friend, and any of us who fills up a vehicle or pays an energy bill."

"These, too, are the very companies and countries that have worked so hard to delay climate action and keep us all hooked on oil and gas. In short, we are paying for big oil's outrageous profits while it cooks the planet and our way of life along with it. The scale of the war-profits bonanza is hard to comprehend, so I'll try to illuminate it (I promise there's a silver lining)."

Read at www.theguardian.com