The profits of the five major international oil companies as a whole showed growth

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　In the third quarter of this year, the profound changes unseen in a century continued to unfold on a global scale. The United States’ foreign policy influenced the dynamics among major powers, while the interconnectedness, interdependence, and integration within the global political and economic systems continued to increase. Commodity supply chains and industrial chains were in a state of fragile balance, overall manufacturing activity worldwide weakened, and global economic growth faced ongoing pressures. The world’s major economies, as well as emerging markets such as India and Brazil, saw their growth rates slow down due to the impact of U.S. tariffs. The International Energy Agency has lowered its forecasts for oil demand this year; OPEC+ continues to abandon its production cut plans, leading to a more relaxed supply and demand situation in the oil and gas market ； The situation in certain regions around the world remains turbulent, but the persistence of geopolitical premiums is clearly insufficient ； The financial benefits resulting from the Federal Reserve’s entry into a rate-cut cycle are limited; international crude oil prices have fallen on a year-on-year basis but risen slightly on a month-on-month basis ； International natural gas prices declined on a month-on-month basis due to factors such as the continuous increase in U.S. natural gas production, the recovery of pipeline gas flows from Norway, and the slowdown in Asia’s economic growth. The overall downward trend in international oil and gas prices, along with varying developments in regional natural gas prices, has introduced uncertainty into the operational performance of international oil companies. 　　In the third quarter, the net profits of the five major international oil companies increased overall on a year-on-year basis, but there were differences in their performance. This year, in terms of operating revenue, these five companies – ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP – were affected negatively by falling international oil prices and an oversupply in the industry, resulting in a slight overall decline in their operating revenue compared to the previous year. In terms of net profit, the net profits of the five major international oil companies increased overall on a year-on-year basis, but the performance of each company varied. The five major international oil companies achieved revenue of $303.371 billion, a slight 3.2% decline on a year-on-year basis, but an increase of 4.6% on a quarter-on-quarter basis ； The adjusted net profit attributable to the parent company (hereinafter referred to as net profit) amounted to $21.253 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.9% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 21.5%. 　　Among them, ExxonMobil achieved revenue of $85.294 billion in the third quarter, a 5.2% decline year-on-year ； The net profit amounted to $7.548 billion, a 12.3% decrease on a year-on-year basis. Chevron reported revenue of $49.726 billion in the third quarter, a 1.9% decline year-on-year ； The net profit amounted to $3.539 billion, a decrease of 21.1% on a year-on-year basis. Shell recorded revenue of $70.41 billion in the third quarter, a 2.8% decline year-on-year ； Net profit reached $5.322 billion, a 24% increase year-on-year. TotalEnergies recorded revenue of $48.691 billion in the third quarter, a 6.4% decline year-on-year ； Net profit reached $3.683 billion, a 60.5% increase year-on-year. BP recorded revenue of $49.25 billion in the third quarter, a 1.9% increase year-on-year ； A net profit of 1.161 billion dollars was achieved, marking a significant increase compared to the previous year. 　　Increasing oil and gas production, rising refining profit margins, and structural cost cuts have helped the five major international oil companies boost their profits. Firstly, the increase in oil and gas production has offset the pressure exerted by falling international oil prices. 　　In the third quarter of 2025, the five major international oil companies achieved an oil and gas production equivalent of 16.546 million barrels per day, a 6.5% increase on a year-on-year basis. 　　Thanks to the acquisition of Hess Corporation and increases in production from the Permian Basin, Tengiz Chevron LLC, and the Gulf of Mexico, Chevron’s oil and gas production equivalents in the United States and globally increased by 27% and 21% respectively on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of this year, setting new records. ExxonMobil’s favorable production growth in the Permian Basin and Guyana offset some of the negative factors. In the third quarter, ExxonMobil achieved a production record of over 700,000 oil equivalents per day in Guyana, and launched the Yellowtail development project four months ahead of schedule, within budget ； In the Permian Basin, ExxonMobil set another production record of nearly 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, while continuing to expand the use of its proprietary technologies for enhanced oil recovery. 　　At TotalEnergies, thanks to the increase in oil and gas production from fields in Brazil, the United States, Argentina, Denmark, and other countries, as well as the benefits resulting from its acquisition of SapuraOMV in Malaysia and its investments in shale gas fields in Eagle Ford, Texas, the company’s oil and gas production increased by 4.1% on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter. Shell and BP’s oil and gas production remained largely stable on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of this year. 　　Secondly, the rise in refining profit margins has a significant impact. 　　In the third quarter of this year, Shell’s global indicative refining margin (IRM) was $11.58 per barrel, representing a year-on-year increase of 109.4% ； TotalEnergies’ European refining margin (ERM) was $63 per ton, up 309.1% on a year-on-year basis ； BP’s average refining indicator margin (RIM) increased by 81.6% on a year-on-year basis. 　　The refining operations of North American International Petroleum Company also performed excellently. Chevron’s downstream net profit in the U.S. was $638 million, a surge of 337% on a year-on-year basis, while its global downstream net profit was $499 million, representing a 11.1% increase year-on-year. The rise in industry refining profit margins also contributed to ExxonMobil’s energy products segment achieving a net profit of $1.84 billion, a 40.6% increase on a year-on-year basis. The downstream operations of the five major international oil companies showed strong operational resilience and growth potential in the third quarter. 　　Once again, the reduction in structural costs offset the decline in net profit to some extent. 　　In the third quarter of this year, the five major international oil companies continued with their strategies for structural cost optimization, achieving significant results. ExxonMobil stated in its quarterly report that since 2019, the company has saved more than $14 billion in structural costs, and it expects to save another $2.2 billion by the end of 2025. By the end of 2030, the company is expected to achieve cumulative savings in structural costs of over $18 billion. BP said that improved operational efficiency, asset divestitures, layoffs, and other cost-saving measures reduced its operating expenses, contributing to the growth in the company’s profits. Chevron, Shell, and TotalEnergies have also been actively pursuing structured cost-reduction plans in recent years, achieving good results. 　　Declining international oil prices, the need to carry out planned maintenance work, and asset depreciation have all contributed to poor operational performance. Firstly, declining international oil prices are the main factor contributing to reduced profits. 　　The third quarter of this year is the traditional peak travel season in the Northern Hemisphere, and increased gasoline consumption in the United States and Europe has slightly boosted demand for crude oil in international markets. In the third quarter, the average price of Brent crude oil futures was $68.17 per barrel, down 13.4% on a year-on-year basis but up 2.2% on a month-on-month basis. Compared to the same period in 2024, July, August, and September saw decreases of 14.33 dollars per barrel, 11.62 dollars per barrel, and 5.29 dollars per barrel, respectively. In the third quarter of this year, the average price of WTI crude oil futures was $64.97 per barrel, down 13.6% on a year-on-year basis but up 2% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. 　　In addition to falling oil prices, factors such as maintaining a certain level of planned maintenance work, asset depreciation, and the natural decline of oil fields also had a negative impact on the operational performance of the five major international oil companies. 　　Secondly, changes in international natural gas prices have increased the uncertainty of operating results. 　　In the third quarter of this year, the average prices at the Henry hub in the United States (HH), TTF in Europe, and JKM in Asia were 3.04 dollars per million British thermal units, 11.11 dollars per million British thermal units, and 11.72 dollars per million British thermal units, respectively. These figures represented increases of 46%, a decrease of 2.4%, and a decrease of 10% on a year-on-year basis, while there were decreases of 3.7%, 5.4%, and 4.3% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. A significant increase in LNG exports drove up HH prices on a year-on-year basis, while rising natural gas production in the United States, a recovery in pipeline gas flows from Norway, and a slowdown in Asia’s economic growth led to a decline in gas prices on a month-on-month basis. The varying trends in international regional natural gas prices have introduced uncertainty into the performance of the five major international oil companies. 　　Operating pressures on international oil companies may continue to increase in the fourth quarter. Overall, in the third quarter of this year, the factors contributing to increased profits were able to offset those that led to reduced profits, resulting in an overall increase in profits for the five major international oil companies. However, there are differences between North American International Petroleum Company and European International Petroleum Company in terms of net profit figures. Certain unique factors affecting ExxonMobil and Chevron led to a decline in their profits. 　　Adhering to its \"focus on core assets\" strategy, ExxonMobil continued to expand its presence in key upstream areas and pursued mergers and acquisitions in those areas where it had an advantage. This led to increased capital expenditures and cash flows, which in turn raised depreciation costs and related expenses. Additionally, with the profit margins in its chemicals business at a cyclical low, its profits declined on a year-on-year basis. Chevron, on the other hand, saw its profits decline due to the acquisition of Hess, which led to increased severance costs and other related transaction expenses. 　　In the fourth quarter of this year, the international oil and gas industry as well as international oil companies faced both positive market factors such as geopolitical uncertainties, the Federal Reserve’s entry into a rate-hiking cycle along with asset expansion measures, and the stabilization of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations. At the same time, they had to deal with negative market influences including weak intrinsic drivers for global economic growth, seasonal declines in oil demand, U.S. tariff policies that dampened demand for oil and gas, OPEC+’s continued high-level production levels and the initiation of a second round of production cuts, as well as rising global crude oil inventories. The downturn in the international oil market is expected to continue, with international oil and gas prices remaining under pressure to fall further. This will put increasing strain on international oil companies, casting a shadow over their performance for the entire year.