The excess profits generated by the war have once again made major oil companies a target of criticism.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association stated in June 2026 that refineries do not determine the retail price of gasoline; crude oil is merely one—albeit the largest—of many input costs influencing overall fuel prices. This implies that the President can—and should—revise the Renewable Fuel Standard, as this standard increases the cost of supplying fuel to the U.S. market. Industry insiders say gasoline prices will take some time before showing a noticeable decline. “There is a lag between oil price movements—and the extent of their decline—and how those changes are reflected at the pump. We expect prices to fall as conditions continue normalizing,” Chevron’s Chief Financial Officer Eimear Bonner told CNBC at the end of June. “It’s not particularly fun being a bogeyman,” said an oil company executive to Reuters. “But we must tell officials that this is a cyclical industry: no one pays attention when the market reverses—and yet we bear all the risk.” Palašková added that, in the current cycle, major oil companies are expected to post substantial profit growth in the second quarter—as they always do whenever crude oil prices rise. Large Oil Companies’ War-Related Profits Anger Governments Aside from oil-producing and exporting countries—and oil companies themselves—few consumers welcome soaring fuel prices. Aside from Trump and the U.S. government, nearly all oil-importing governments worldwide also disapprove of oil companies profiting handsomely from war. Industry expert Irina Slav published an article titled “Large Oil Companies’ War-Related Profits Anger Governments” on the website OilPrice.com on July 12, 2026, detailing this situation. Slav pointed out that due to the U.S.-Iran conflict driving up oil prices, major oil giants are projected to achieve record-breaking profits in the second quarter; politicians have once again turned their criticism toward big oil—President Trump accused fuel retailers of inflating prices, while European lawmakers called for using windfall profits to fund climate action. The industry contends that geopolitical turmoil—not corporate behavior—has driven price increases, and that refining capacity constraints and tightening fuel markets have kept gasoline and diesel prices stubbornly high. Oil and natural gas prices surged amid conflicts among the U.S., Israel, and Iran, leading large oil companies to anticipate massive second-quarter profits—a development posing problems for governments globally, especially the Trump administration, and rekindling anger among European policymakers over big oil’s good fortune. Earlier this year, following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran, Tehran was forced to close traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—an action it had threatened for decades but never previously carried out. This sudden event delivered an initial shock to oil and gas prices, with subsequent production pressures further intensifying the impact, pushing Brent crude above $100 per barrel. Although oil prices have not reached the peaks seen in 2022, governments worldwide now face significantly weaker fiscal positions compared to four years ago—making the current situation even more severe.

A U.S. energy giant spends $2 billion to buy 'aging oil tankers' in a bold bet on 'shipping oil out of the Strait of Hormuz'.

The Iran war is reshaping the global oil shipping landscape—and a U.S. oil trader is placing a rare, high-stakes bet on this transformation. According to a report by the Financial Times on Wednesday, Ben Morrow, CEO of Dallas-based PIF Energy, said the company is spending $2 billion to acquire a fleet of up to 15 aging very large crude carriers (VLCCs), aiming to transport crude oil from Iraq and Saudi Aramco through the Strait of Hormuz to refiners in India, Indonesia, and Europe. This move comes amid worsening global diesel shortages and tanker freight rates surging to historic highs—highlighting the market’s extreme thirst for scarce shipping capacity. Meanwhile, Bloomberg data shows that chartering a VLCC to ship U.S. crude to Asia now costs $77 million, up sharply from the full-year 2025 average of $9.2 million. For investors, this wager reflects a structural distortion in today’s oil shipping market: secondhand vessel prices have unusually surpassed newbuild prices; soaring freight rates are transmitting inflationary pressure downstream; and political pressure on the Trump administration to curb diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections is profoundly reshaping energy supply chains. Freight Rates Soar, Aging Tankers Surge in Value Since the outbreak of the Iran war, heightened passage risks in the Strait of Hormuz have deterred numerous shipowners, effectively shrinking the global tanker supply. Although Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded to nearly 11.9 million barrels per day in early October, trade logistics have grown far more complex than before the war—and transit times have lengthened substantially, further squeezing effective shipping capacity. This supply-demand imbalance has directly pushed up vessel asset values. According to shipbroker Clarkson, the average price of a 15-year-old VLCC stands at approximately $160 million—up 44% from three months earlier—and now exceeds the $131 million price tag for a newbuild VLCC—a phenomenon extremely rare in the industry. Meanwhile, captains willing to navigate the Strait of Hormuz now command monthly salaries of up to $100,000, and daily charter rates for VLCCs on Middle Eastern routes have briefly hit a record $1.3 million. The broader shipping index likewise confirms the breadth of this rally. Citing Clarkson data, Maritime Executive reported that the ClarkSea Index reached $75,658 per day as of October 2—marking its fourth consecutive week at a new all-time high, with a monthly gain of 73%, a year-on-year increase of 66% in its average value, and a level 84% above its 10-year average. Notably, this rally is not driven solely by oil tankers: LNG carriers, dry bulk vessels, container ships, and car carriers—all distinct shipping segments—are simultaneously operating at either “abnormal” or “strong” levels.

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Oil Majors Face Spending Test From Iran War Windfall Cash

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