Exxon Mobil and Chevron touched record highs as refining profits soared

Chevron

Exxon Mobil rose 2.16% to US$187.25 on Friday, and Chevron gained 1.75% to US$235.52. Both touched record highs after their September-quarter results. The S&P 500's energy sector set a record as well.

So where did the extra money come from? Mostly from turning crude oil into diesel and petrol. Exxon's refining business earned a record US$9.05 billion, about five times what it made a year earlier.

Chevron's US refineries processed a record 1.09 million barrels of crude a day. Exxon ran its Gulf Coast refineries at full capacity.

Chart: Refiner Valero's profit leaps to US$6.8bn. Net profit at US refiner Valero for each July–September quarter, 2009 to 2026, in US$bn. Exxon made US$15.4bn in the same quarter, Chevron US$9.9bn. — This story’s chart of the day.

War is why refining pays so well right now. Attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz and drone strikes on refineries in Russia and the Middle East have taken fuel out of the market. US diesel averaged about US$6.30 a gallon in October, according to AAA.

Overall profit more than doubled at Exxon, to US$15.4 billion, and nearly tripled at Chevron, to US$9.9 billion. Exxon also announced a US$20 billion share buyback for next year.

What to watch

the oil wells are earning less. Exxon's upstream profit fell to US$7.31 billion from US$9.19 billion in the June quarter, because crude was cheaper. Refining margins depend on the disruptions lasting, so the December quarter will show how much of this one was the war.

This story ran in Chips Down Saturday 31 October’s edition, with the market snapshot, the other two stories, the numbers and the week ahead. Read the whole edition →

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Tuesday 10 November An $8 billion Iranian proposal reached the White House and took another 4% off oil
Monday 9 November Energy stocks had their worst week since April 2025 as the war premium drained out of oil
Tuesday 3 November Oil fell more than 7% because Iran and the United States started talking

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