Exxon earns $15.4 billion and Chevron $9.9 billion in Q3 as tight diesel supply lifts refining profits

ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported sharply higher third-quarter profits on Friday, October 30, 2026, because the Iran war has made refined fuel, above all diesel, scarce and expensive. Exxon earned $15.4 billion, more than double last year's $7.55 billion. Chevron earned $9.9 billion, close to three times its $3.5 billion a year ago.

Both beat analysts' forecasts. The money came less from pumping crude than from turning it into fuel: supply losses during the war have widened the gap between the price of crude and the price of the products made from it.

The two results side by side

Third quarter 2026	ExxonMobil	Chevron
Net profit	$15.4 billion	$9.9 billion
Net profit a year earlier	$7.55 billion	$3.5 billion
Earnings per share	$3.72	$5.06
Adjusted earnings	$17.5 billion	$10.4 billion
Adjusted earnings per share	$4.23	$5.28
Refining unit profit	$9.05 billion (adjusted)	$4.9 billion
Oil and gas unit profit	$7.31 billion (adjusted)	$5.7 billion
Cash flow from operations	$25.7 billion	$16.0 billion
Free cash flow	$19.1 billion	$12.0 billion

The refining figures show how unusual this quarter was. Exxon's Energy Products business earned nearly five times what it made a year ago. Chevron's downstream profit rose from $1.1 billion to $4.9 billion, and its US refineries processed a record 1.09 million barrels of crude a day while running at almost 98% of capacity.

Pumping less, earning more

The war has also reached the companies' wells. Exxon's upstream profit fell to $7.31 billion from $9.19 billion in the second quarter, with production disruption in the Middle East and higher depreciation among the causes. Its output was about 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, roughly level with the previous quarter.

Chevron's output fell to 3.98 million barrels a day from 4.09 million a year ago. It blamed lower entitlements under its contracts when prices are high, along with the effects of the conflict. Record production in Australia and one month of output from Venezuela softened the decline. International sales of its refined products dropped 9%, also because of Middle East supply problems.

Brent crude explains much of the rest. Chevron said the benchmark averaged $97 a barrel in the quarter, down from $104 in the second quarter but far above the $69 of a year earlier.

Where the cash is going

Exxon extended its run of annual dividend increases to 44 years and said it will repurchase $20 billion of shares in 2027. Chief executive Darren Woods said the company had drawn on its scale and integration to meet global energy needs.

Chevron paid out about $3.5 billion in dividends and $2.5 billion in buybacks during the quarter, and cut total debt by a further $3.5 billion. Its board declared a dividend of $1.78 a share, payable on December 10. Chief executive Mike Wirth said the company was reinvesting to bring more energy to a supply-constrained market, and the company pointed to a plan for its Venezuelan joint ventures to spend $7 billion over five years.

Shares in both companies rose on Friday, in contrast to the sharp falls in technology stocks the same day.

What wide refining margins mean at the pump

These profits are the other side of the bills paid by drivers, truckers and farmers. A wide refining margin means fuel costs much more than the crude it comes from, and diesel is the fuel that moves food and goods.

That matters most in countries that import much of their fuel. Pakistan buys refined products as well as crude on the world market, so expensive diesel feeds into its regular fuel price reviews, transport fares and farm costs, whatever happens to the crude price itself. The same pattern showed up in BP's results earlier this week, when its third-quarter profit nearly quadrupled to $8.46 billion on refining.

Relief depends largely on the Strait of Hormuz. Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday with a revised US draft, and an Iranian response is reportedly expected on Saturday.