By Marcus LeeExxonMobil and Chevron reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter financial results on Friday, October 30, 2026, as elevated global fuel prices and record upstream production lifted profits across both energy giants. Supply disruptions tied to ongoing conflicts in Iran and Ukraine pushed benchmark crude oil above $100 per barrel while driving domestic refining margins higher.
Refinery Utilization and Record Fuel Output Boost ExxonMobil
Spring, Texas-based ExxonMobil saw its third-quarter revenue climb 33% year over year to $113.16 billion, surpassing Wall Street projections. Unadjusted net income more than doubled to $3.72 per share during the July-through-September period, while adjusted profit reached $4.23 per share, beating the average analyst forecast of $4.12 per share.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods credited major facility upgrades, including the expansion of the Beaumont refinery in Texas, with lifting the company’s distillate output by roughly 40% since 2019. Utilization across ExxonMobil’s U.S. Gulf Coast refineries reached 100% during the quarter, generating the company’s second-highest Gulf Coast diesel volume on record.
Alongside strong output in Guyana and the Permian Basin in the American Southwest, ExxonMobil raised its quarterly dividend to $1.07 per share and authorized a $20 billion stock buyback plan. Shares of ExxonMobil rose 1.3% in Friday morning trading, extending a 12-month stock rally of 64% across the broader Business sector.
Chevron Expands International Production and Cuts Midstream Costs
Houston-based Chevron posted third-quarter net income of $9.9 billion, or $5.06 per share, as quarterly revenue jumped 36% to $67.8 billion. Crude utilization across Chevron’s domestic refineries reached 98%, processing more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day while setting output records at assets in Australia and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Chevron’s third-quarter figures also incorporated one month of crude production from Venezuela, where the second-largest U.S. oil producer has maintained a presence since 1923, following an accounting update and a September 2026 commitment to invest $7 billion over five years. Overall capital expenditures declined compared with a year earlier as the company moderated spending in the Permian Basin.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth noted that new commercial agreements reduced midstream expenses in the Bakken fields of North Dakota and Montana by roughly 50%, strengthening asset competitiveness. Chevron significantly expanded its Bakken acreage last year when it completed its $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp.
Global Supply Pressures Keep Diesel and Crude Prices Elevated
Tight shipping conditions through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that previously carried one-fifth of global petroleum and natural gas supplies, kept Brent crude and U.S. benchmark crude trading above $100 per barrel on October 30. Earlier in the conflict, actively traded Brent contracts peaked near $120 per barrel in March 2026, prompting International Energy Agency members to pledge 426 million barrels in emergency reserves, including 92 million barrels from European Union nations.
At the start of October, Group of Seven democracies announced plans to release an additional 100 million barrels of oil and refined fuel products, prioritizing substantial volumes of diesel. Even after President Donald Trump arranged a controversial Russian diesel import deal that saw its first tanker set sail in late October despite congressional opposition, U.S. retail diesel averaged a record-high $6.32 per gallon, up 71% year over year, while regular gasoline rose 38% and Chevron stock gained 1.8%.
