Eight of the world’s largest oil companies have made record profits of more than $90bn in just three months. Global energy prices surged due to the conflict between the US and Iran. Emissions-linked climate change brought deadly heatwaves. The sharp increase in revenue has sparked renewed demands. Oil and gas giants such as Saudi Aramco and BP must cover the environmental harm they cause. They must support the transition to renewable energy. The Guardian reported that these eight listed oil producers made almost $93bn in the first full financial quarter. The war between the US and Iran started then. It saw oil prices climb to over $126 a barrel. This massive disruption in fossil fuel supplies helped the companies nearly double their combined profits. They went from just under $50bn in the same period last year. During the same time, their market value soared by about $600bn. It reached its highest level in recent memory.
The group includes Saudi Aramco, BP, Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil. All of which benefited from the crisis-induced energy market volatility. The companies earned more than $700,000 every minute during the spring quarter. Their profits were driven by the surge in oil prices. The continued demand for fossil fuels also played a role. Scientific analysis from last September revealed something startling. The carbon emissions from just one of the 14 largest fossil fuel firms are enough to trigger over 50 heatwaves. These would have otherwise been unlikely. These heatwaves are directly connected to deadly weather events. Such events are now being made more severe and more frequent. This is due to human-caused climate change. As a result, activists and climate scientists are pushing for accountability. They argue that big oil companies must pay for the damages. They must fund the green transition.
Saudi Aramco's Remarkable Performance
Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, reported its net income rising by 34%. It went to over $33bn in the latest quarter. This happened even as its infrastructure was targeted by drone and missile strikes. These were launched by Iranian and Houthi forces. According to the Carbon Majors database, Aramco’s long history of fossil fuel production has made it the largest corporate source of historical carbon emissions. It is followed closely by Chevron and ExxonMobil. Shell and BP also rank in the top 10 for their historical emissions. Despite this, Saudi Arabia has consistently worked to block and delay global climate action. It has maintained this pattern for decades.
BP, one of the last major oil firms to announce its quarterly results, reported $5.73bn in profits for April to June. This is the highest figure since the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. It is a more than two-fold increase from the $2.5bn it made in the previous three months. The company’s new chief executive, Meg O’Neill, defended the profits as necessary. She said they are needed to meet the demand for oil products. These have been in short supply due to global disruptions. However, BP has also been scaling back its commitments to renewable energy. Its leadership decided to abandon ambitious environmental goals. This was a major strategic shift early last year. The annual budget for energy transition efforts was cut from $5bn to $1.5bn–$2bn.
In recent years, BP has sold or spun off key green energy assets, including its UK offshore windfarms and a $4bn US biogas business, which captures methane from landfills and is the largest producer of renewable gas in the country. On Tuesday, it announced plans to sell its solar power division, Lightsource, to a group backed by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, as reported by the Financial Times. On Friday, BP also put its North Sea oil and gas operations up for sale, a move that has drawn fresh criticism from campaigners calling on the UK government to block the development of two controversial fields in that aging region.
BP's Climate Policy Shift
These shifts highlight BP’s retreat from renewable energy and its increasing focus on traditional fossil fuel production. Critics argue that these moves signal a lack of long-term commitment to addressing the climate crisis. BP's new CEO has been clear about the company's current focus, but environmental advocates remain deeply concerned about the implications of its decisions.
Patrick Galey, who leads fossil fuel research at Global Witness, condemned BP’s profits as a “scandalous reminder” of how companies are capitalizing on the suffering caused by the climate crisis. “While wildfires threaten communities around the world, droughts intensify, and energy costs spiral out of control, ordinary families are left to pay the price for big oil’s focus on shareholder wealth over a livable planet,” he said. He emphasized the need for oil companies to be held accountable and to contribute to repairing the climate damage they have caused. “If big oil paid its fair share in taxes, we could fund a significant portion of the transition to renewable energy and build the necessary infrastructure to withstand future climate disasters,” he added.
Rosie Downes, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, echoed these sentiments, pointing out that millions of households are bearing the burden of rising energy bills and the worsening climate crisis. “BP is making enormous profits while families are left struggling to heat and power their homes,” she said. She urged the government to hold fossil fuel companies responsible and to redirect their earnings into climate solutions, rather than allowing them to continue extracting and profiting from the planet’s most harmful resources.
Climate Impact and Responsibility
Scientific analysis has shown that emissions from major fossil fuel companies like Aramco, Chevron, and ExxonMobil are directly linked to heatwaves that are increasingly deadly and disruptive. These companies are among the most responsible for the carbon emissions fueling extreme weather.