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Some fights simmer quietly behind closed doors. This one played out in front of reporters, in real time, with the president of the United States naming names. Donald Trump has unleashed sharp criticism at oil companies, accusing them of pocketing outsized profits from a global energy market thrown into chaos by his own administration's war on Iran — a war that turned crude oil into something closer to a rollercoaster than a commodity.

Brent crude had been cruising along at roughly $70 a barrel before US-Israeli strikes began at the end of February. Within two months, it had rocketed as high as $126, before settling back down to around $85 a barrel today. That kind of price swing doesn't just move markets — it reshapes household budgets, corporate earnings calls, and, apparently, presidential press briefings.

The Numbers That Sparked the Firestorm

Windfall Profits Under the Microscope

Trump zeroed in on the eye-popping quarterly results posted last week by ExxonMobil and Chevron, declaring the companies would need to "give some of that back to the public."

"They're making too much money based on a shortage," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday evening. "I don't like it."

The timing was almost theatrical — Trump's remarks landed just hours before BP announced its own profits had doubled over the last quarter, climbing to $5.7 billion. Together, the trans-Atlantic oil sector's earnings painted a picture that even industry veterans might call jaw-dropping.

A Quarter for the Record Books

U.S. oil giants collectively raked in more than $26 billion in profits for the three months ending in June, riding the wave of disruption triggered by the Iran conflict like surfers catching the swell of a storm they helped create.

Chevron posted its highest-ever quarterly profit at $12.2 billion — a fivefold jump compared to the same period last year. ExxonMobil wasn't far behind, reporting $14.5 billion in profit, double what it earned a year earlier and its best quarterly showing since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine sent energy markets into upheaval.

"Chevron: too much money. ExxonMobil: too much money," Trump said bluntly. "They're going to give some of that back to the public and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price."

Industry Pushes Back — Carefully

BP's Measured Response

Asked to respond to Trump's comments, BP chief executive Meg O'Neill struck a diplomatic tone in an interview with CNBC, acknowledging the financial strain many households are feeling. "The reality is, we produce a global commodity, and the product we sell hangs off that global commodity price," she said — a polite way of noting that oil companies don't set prices in a vacuum.

Climate Activists Sound the Alarm

While the president framed the profits as unfair to consumers, climate campaigners took aim at a different target entirely: the broader system that allows fossil fuel giants to cash in during crises. Clémence Dubois, a campaigns director at 350.org, didn't mince words.

"Chevron and Exxon are profiteering from a model of distraction, leaving ordinary people to pay the price with higher bills and devastating impacts such as these fires," Dubois said. "These profits feel almost criminal."

A Pressure Campaign With Political Stakes

Warnings to Retailers, Orders to Investigators

Trump's criticism of oil company profits didn't emerge in isolation — it followed weeks of mounting pressure on energy retailers, timed against a backdrop of flagging approval ratings ahead of the November midterm elections. The president has also directed the Justice Department to investigate potential price gouging within the retail energy sector, escalating what began as public frustration into a formal inquiry.

In late June, Trump took to his Truth Social platform with a blunt ultimatum: "Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY. If Retailers don't do this, big problems lie ahead!"

The Math That Doesn't Add Up — At Least to Trump

Speaking to journalists, the president argued that the drop in oil and gas prices during his administration's June peace talks with Iran should have translated into gas prices as low as $2.25 a gallon.

"Oil prices have come down so much and we are not seeing anything at the pump by comparison the way they should be," Trump said in the Oval Office, framing the gap between crude prices and pump prices as a kind of unexplained leak in the system.

Yet the numbers tell a stubborn story: U.S. gasoline prices currently average $4.11 a gallon, according to AAA — nearly double the figure Trump suggested consumers should be seeing.

What's Next for Big Oil and the White House

The Trump administration has repeatedly stated it has no current plans to impose an export ban on oil or petroleum products. Still, some analysts caution that option could resurface if pump prices continue climbing — turning what is currently a war of words into a potential policy showdown between the White House and the industry it once championed.