Iran War Impact: It takes one second to read this line. In that time, the world’s biggest oil companies just made nearly $3,000.
According to a study by Oxfam International, six of the world’s largest fossil fuel firms are projected to earn $2,967 every second in 2026. The report has been published ahead of the global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia. Follow Markets Live Updates
Who are these six companies?
- Chevron
- Shell
- BP
- ConocoPhillips
- ExxonMobil
- TotalEnergies
Together, they are expected to post $94 billion in fossil fuel profits this year. Not revenue. Profit. That is $37 million more per day than what they earned in 2025.Â
While profit soars for oil giants, energy bills are crushing families in US. Across the US and several other nations, households are facing:
- Soaring electricity bills
- Record fuel prices
- Inflation eating into savings
- Fuel shortages in parts of Africa and Asia
Ironically, the trigger for both — profits of oil companies, and increased burden on households — is the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Due to the ongoing war in Iran and the resultant restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil chokepoint, oil prices have crossed the $100 per barrel mark.
As prices rise, oil profits rise faster. The contrast is stark. To draw a comparison, the Oxfam report highlights the $94 billion these six firms will make in 2026 alone is enough to provide solar power to nearly 50 million people in Africa.
At the same time, many governments are cutting fuel use:
- Work-from-home orders
- Four-day work weeks
- Fuel rationing
- Hospitals running low on supplies in some regions
- Climate spending is falling
Meanwhile, several of these companies have recently scaled back low-carbon plans:
- ExxonMobil cut planned spending on low-carbon projects
- TotalEnergies refused to adopt a net-zero plan aligned with 1.5°C
- BP reduced renewable investment and increased oil and gas focus
- Shell diluted its 2030 climate targets
Oxfam argues that the money being earned is not going into clean energy transition. Instead, much of it flows to the wealthiest investors, largely in the Global North.
What People Want vs What’s Happening
Oxfam commissioned polling in seven countries. It found:
- People are 3X more likely to support investment in renewables than more fossil fuel extraction
- 68% support higher taxes on oil and gas profits to fund clean energy
- Yet fossil fuel extraction continues to expand.
The industry calls this a cyclical phase that requires sustained investment. Oxfam calls it the “pollutocrat era”. This is not the first time when oil companies have made huge profits during geopolitical tensions. According to previous analyses:
- Major fossil fuel firms made nearly half a trillion dollars in the four years since the Ukraine war began in 2022.
- The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies made $8,333 per second in the first month of the Iran conflict, as per Rystad Energy and The Guardian.
- War, instability, and supply fears have repeatedly turned into profit spikes.
For oil companies, crisis has been good business. Here’s what Oxfam is asking governments to do
- Impose a ‘Rich Polluter Profit Tax’
- Introduce Excess Profit Taxes
- Cancel or restructure unsustainable sovereign debt
- Fund climate transition in poorer countries
- Ensure justice for communities hit by extraction and climate damage