Greenpeace activists protest Thursday outside the Dutch headquarters of Shell in The Hague against what the environmental group said was “war profiteering.” Photo by Robin Utrecht/EPA
British oil giant Shell reported Thursday a jump in first quarter profit to $6.92 billion on the back of higher global oil prices which have been pushed sharply higher since the war with Iran started at the end of February.
The above-market expectations performance — $1.34 billion higher than in 2025 — was largely due to $100-plus prices for a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, which had been changing hands at $73 prior to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz immediately after the United States and Israel struck Iran.
Shell said “exceptional” results from its oil trading business had helped it to turn its highest profit for the January to March period in three years. The company also credited its refinery operations that turn crude into petrol, jet fuel and other products.
“Shell delivered strong results enabled by our relentless focus on operational performance in a quarter marked by unprecedented disruption in global energy markets,” said Shell chief executive Wael Sawan.
“The safety of our people remains our priority as we work closely with governments and customers to address their energy needs,” he said, referencing attacks on oil production facilities in the Persian Gulf and supply disruption caused by the closure of the strait through which 20% of the world’s oil and gas passes.
Shell’s bumper earnings came a week after rival BP reported a 140% jump in first quarter profit to $3.2 billion, up from $1.38 billion in the same period last year and way above the $2.63 billion the market predicted it would make.
On Wednesday, Norway’s Equinor also reported its strongest earnings in three years, posting first-quarter profit of $9.77 billion.
U.S. oil giants, however, have not fared as well, the windfall from higher prices seemingly passing them by.
Exxon and Chevron, the two biggest, reported Q1 profits on Friday down 45% and 36% respectively, compared with the same period in 2025.
The companies blamed deliveries being placed on hold and supply disruptions in the Middle East for performances that saw Exxon’s profit almost halve to $4.2 billion, down from about $7.7 billion in the same quarter last year, while Chevron’s fell to $2.2bn from about $3.5 billion.
However, both companies also said the “timing” of physical oil deliveries meant they were unable to book the profit from the high oil price in their results for the quarter, but that they now expected to also begin benefiting from the higher price.
Exxon said it made $8.8 billion profit excluding those unfavorable effects while Chevron said it would have made about $5.2 billion.
Both companies still came out ahead of Wall Street expectations.
