chevron and exxon mobil The company announced Friday that third-quarter profits soared as U.S. refineries took advantage of higher diesel fuel prices to ramp up production.
The world faces a fuel crisis as Ukraine, Iran and the Houthi militants attack refineries in Russia and the Middle East, reducing global fuel production capacity by millions of barrels a day. Rising diesel prices have prompted refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast to ramp up production to fill the supply gap.
ExxonMobil’s profits doubled to $15.4 billion, or $3.72 per share, compared to $7.5 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the same period in 2025. Earnings, adjusted for one-time items, came in at $4.23 per share, well above Wall Street expectations.
“Refining capacity is very tight right now,” Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in an interview with CNBC. “Frankly, diesel is a critical juncture here because demand is so inelastic that it’s extremely important to economic growth.”
U.S. diesel prices on Friday averaged $6.32 a gallon nationally, up more than 70% from the same period last year, according to AAA.
Chevron’s net income jumped nearly 200% to $9.9 billion, or $5.06 per share, compared with $3.5 billion, or $1.82 per share, in the year-ago period. Earnings per share, adjusted for one-time items, were $5.28, also beating The Street’s estimate of $4.89.
“The system is under stress,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in an interview with CNBC. “We’re still in a pretty vulnerable environment.”
Chevron stock rose nearly 2% and Exxon stock rose more than 1%. Both hit record highs on Friday.
Here are Chevron and Exxon’s earnings compared to expectations of analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Chevron earnings per share: $5.28 adjusted, $4.89 expected vs. Chevron revenue: $67.8 billion, $61.6 billion expected vs. Exxon earnings per share: $4.23 adjusted, $4.08 expected vs. Exxon revenue: $113.2 billion, $103.1 billion expected
The large profits made by the largest oil companies during wartime are politically controversial. President Donald Trump said in August that Chevron and Exxon are “making too much money off scarcity.”
Chevron’s refining division’s profits rose more than 300% to $4.9 billion from $1.1 billion in the same period in 2025. The company’s oil and gas production generated a profit of $5.7 billion, up 70% from $3.3 billion in the same period last year.
Chevron’s U.S. refineries processed a record amount of crude oil, just over 1 million barrels per day, with facilities operating at 98% capacity. Diesel and jet fuel yields have increased by more than 10%, Wirth said.
Exxon’s refining division earned about $7.2 billion in the quarter, outpacing its production business’ profit of about $7.1 billion. The company’s refining profits have increased almost 200% to $11.4 billion so far this year, compared to $4 billion in the first nine months of 2025.
Exxon’s Gulf Coast refineries were operating at 100% capacity. Those refineries produced “record amounts of diesel” in the quarter, Woods said.
In fact, Chevron’s oil and gas production decreased slightly to 3.9 million barrels per day, compared to about 4 million barrels per day in the same period last year. Although there was a decrease in the international sector due to the impact of the Middle East conflict, U.S. production remained almost unchanged compared to the same period last year.
Exxon’s production this year will be about 4.5 million barrels per day, down more than 2% from the roughly 4.7 million barrels per day produced in the first nine months of 2025.
