Eight of the world's largest oil companies made almost $93bn (£69bn) in profits in the second quarter of 2026, as the Iran conflict pushed global oil prices to highs above $126 a barrel. The windfall, which comes amid record heatwaves and severe drought linked to fossil-fuel emissions, has renewed calls for firms such as Saudi Aramco and BP to help fund the costs of climate damage and the transition to renewable energy.

The combined profits of Aramco, BP, Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil nearly doubled from just under $50bn in the same period last year, equating to more than $700,000 earned every minute. Their market valuations rose by roughly $600bn to over $3tn. Saudi Aramco posted the largest profit, up 34% to more than $33bn despite drone and missile strikes on its infrastructure, while BP reported quarterly profits of $5.73bn, its highest since the early stages of Russia's war on Ukraine.