Commodities

Oil industry sees war windfall but girds for political blowback

Hurriyet Daily News July 31, 2026

Oil industry sees war windfall but girds for political blowback - Latest News Türkiye Economy Opinion World Arts

& Life Sports Photo Oil industry sees war windfall but girds for political blowback News Economy July 31 2026

07:46:29 Oil industry sees war windfall but girds for political blowback NEW YORK U.S. oil giants reported blowout

profits at a time when lofty gasoline prices are stressing consumers and exacerbating President Donald Trump's worries

about upcoming midterm elections. The second-quarter reports reflect the overwhelmingly positive impacts to the

industry's bottom line from the U.S.-Iran war, which has led to an unprecedented supply shock due to the virtual closure

of the Strait of Hormuz. But huge oil industry profit increases often generate political blowback. Even Trump, a strong

supporter of fossil fuel interests, has lashed out over gasoline prices, announcing in June that he was directing the

Department of Justice to investigate any "gouging" perpetrated by the industry. "Gasoline prices better start going down

a lot faster than what I'm seeing," Trump said in a June 24 social media post. Trump at the time was questioning why

gasoline prices had not fallen further in a period when a U.S.-Iran ceasefire had translated into sharply lower crude

prices. But U.S. gasoline prices have shot back above $4 a gallon on the latest war escalations. On July 30, U.S. prices

stood at $4.10 per gallon, about 31 percent above year-ago levels. Meanwhile, polling has shown Trump increasingly

vulnerable on pocketbook issues ahead of the November midterms. Roughly two-thirds of voters said that Trump's policies

have worsened economic conditions, according to a CNN poll this week. The U.S. earnings reports on July 31 come on the

heels of staggering results in recent days from European petroleum heavyweights. Shell saw profits triple to $10.8

billion while TotalEnergies reported a doubling of profits to $5.4 billion. Such mammoth profit increases reflect the

lift to crude oil and natural gas prices from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the

world's crude oil and one-fourth of liquefied natural gas passes each day. The conflict has also tightened oil product

supplies, significantly boosting refining margins. Lowering gasoline prices before November is high on Trump's priority

list, prompting numerous White House meetings, according to U.S. media reports. Trump took credit for a July 6

announcement from Walmart that it was lowering prices on such household items as fresh corn, potato chips and ground

beef. The company did not comment on Trump's statements. In past media appearances, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren

Woods and Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth have pointed to increased drilling in U.S. sites such as the shale-rich

Permian Basin as evidence of their commitment to boosting supply. They have defended share buybacks -- a target of

former president Joe Biden -- as an aspect of profit-oriented business, while characterizing the spike in oil prices and

other commodities as an inevitable outcome of supply disruption. "There's nothing that the oil companies can actually

do," said Kenneth Medlock III, a fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston. "The quickest way to bring

gas prices down is for the Iran crisis to disappear," Medlock said. "Most people in the public understand what's going

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