They’re making record profits, but oil companies still won’t ‘drill, baby, drill’

Big oil companies just posted huge profits: Exxon Mobil made $14.5 billion, Chevron made $12 billion (its highest quarterly profit ever), and Shell made $9.8 billion, more than double what it earned a year earlier. The profits came mostly from supply problems tied to the war in the Middle East, including a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed up oil and gasoline prices.

Despite the windfall, these companies are not drilling many new wells. Instead, they are keeping spending tight and sending more cash to shareholders, a strategy the industry calls "capital discipline." This marks a shift from years past, when companies chased production growth. Executives say they plan to keep this approach even with pressure from the Trump administration to increase U.S. drilling and even after Venezuela's leader was removed and new drilling opportunities opened up. Oil rig counts in the U.S. have ticked up slightly this summer, but only after the war drove prices higher, and they remain no better than last year's levels.

For homeowners, the takeaway is less about a specific program and more about the bigger picture: oil and gas companies are prioritizing profit over ramping up supply, which could keep gas and oil prices elevated for longer. Higher fuel costs tend to make electric vehicles, heat pumps (which heat and cool homes using electricity instead of gas), and other electric home upgrades more appealing by comparison, since they are less exposed to swings in oil markets.