US oil corporations are going gangbusters at the bank as Americans face the biggest consumer price hikes in decades. Oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron released their Second Quarter earnings reports on Friday, revealing immense profiteering by the corporate giants.
ExxonMobil, the world’s largest petroleum corporation not owned by a state entity, said on Friday it had made $17.85 billion in Q2 of 2022 - four times last year’s figure and twice what it made in Q1 of 2022. Chevron boasted an $11.62 billion profit in Q2, a 74% increase from Q1 and a 247% increase from Q2 of 2021.
According to CNN, that amounts to ExxonMobil making $2,245.62 every second of the 92-day-long quarter, and Chevon making $1,462.11 per second. In other words, in the time it took to fill your car’s gas tank, the two together made more than $400,000.
That the oil giants are raking in the dough is hardly news, though: US President Joe Biden slammed them for making “more money than God” in a June speech, noting in particular that they were using profits to buy back stock instead of expanding oil production.
The news comes after months of sky-high gas prices in Europe and North America, driven up by US sanctions and other trade disruptions connected to Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, which began in February. In March, Biden announced a total boycott of Russian petroleum, which accounted for about 8% of US oil imports. The rising gas prices have translated into rising commodity costs across the board, as companies that ship goods via train, plane or truck have increased prices to offset their own higher costs.
However, it’s not that simple for either the gas giants or for other companies.
An April study by the Economic Policy Institute found that corporate profits accounted for 54% of inflation in the United States in 2021 and 2022, meaning companies increasing their prices because consumers expect price increases has made inflation caused by other issues, such as pandemic-related expenses, to be twice as bad.
With inflation out of control, the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, increased interest rates on Wednesday for the fourth month in a row. However, without appreciably blunting inflation, the Fed’s activity has had the other expected effect: forcing the US economy into recession, despite attempts by the Biden administration to portray it otherwise.
Meanwhile, Biden’s efforts to subdue rising gas prices have largely floundered, with oil giants who were sold petroleum from the US strategic reserve turning around and selling much of it in Europe, where prices are even higher, instead of putting that into the US market to bring prices down. Diesel fuel has also seen shortages in the US as sellers did the same, leaving Biden considering an even rarer release of the US’ diesel reserve, which is typically kept to ensure access to heating oil for northeastern homes in case of a disaster.