ICYMI: Oil and Gas Companies Made $30 million an hour as the Rest of the Country Heads in the “Wrong Direction”

Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright admitted that the country “looks like we’re going in the wrong direction” 

 Americans have spent $20.5 billion more on gas and diesel since Trump attacked Iran 

Washington, DC – Trump and Republicans made the affordability crisis even worse with their reckless economic agenda and now, Americans are footing the bill for windfall war profits for billionaires. New reporting from the Guardian reveals that fossil fuel companies, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, are raking in $30 million an hour thanks to Trump’s war of choice in Iran. (ICYMI: Chevron CEO Mike Wirth sold stocks worth $104 million between January and March). The news comes after one of Trump’s top economic advisors told Americans that they don’t need to worry about frustration at the pump because the profits for oil and gas companies are “significant”. 

Trump and Republicans are trying to pretend that they’re looking out for the American people, but they keep accidentally revealing who they’re really working for: Billionaire oil and gas donors. Earlier in the war, Trump celebrated skyrocketing gas prices because “we make a lot of money”, leaving anyone who has filled up their gas tank or bought plane tickets in the last month wondering who he meant by “we”. 

REMINDER: Trump gathered oil and gas executives, including representatives from Chevron and ExxonMobil, at Mar-a-Lago to ask for $1 billion for his campaign and promised to enact their wishlist on day one. 

The Guardian: $30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds

The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper.

The conflict pushed the price of oil to an average of $100 (£74) a barrel in March, leading to estimated windfall war profits for the month of $23bn for the companies. Oil and gas supplies will take months to return to pre-war levels and the companies will make $234bn by the end of the year if the oil price continues to average $100. The analysis uses data from a leading intelligence provider, Rystad Energy, analysed by Global Witness.

The excess profits come from the pockets of ordinary people as they pay high prices to fill up their vehicles and power their homes, as well as from businesses incurring higher energy bills… 

ExxonMobil, which has a long record of denying climate change, will take in $11bn in unearned war profits in 2026 if the $100 price endures. Shell will get a $6.8bn boost. The value of both companies, like others, has risen significantly due to increases in share prices in the month after the Iran war began: ExxonMobil is worth $118bn more, Shell $34bn more.

Chevron is on track to make windfall profits from the Iran war of $9.2bn, according to the analysis. The company’s chief executive, Mike Wirth, has also benefited, selling $104m worth of Chevron shares between January and March. 

The impact of the Iran war is likely to be long lasting, with the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, on Monday describing it as the biggest shock ever to the global energy market…