President Trump Criticizes Oil Giants Over Record Profits and High Petrol Prices
2 sources across 2 countries · Qatar · Singapore · 2 of them are linked to a state
Who reported this
- Al Jazeera
- The Straits Times
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
President Donald Trump criticized oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron on August 3, stating they are making too much money while US consumers face high petrol prices. The president told reporters that he does not like the blockbuster second quarter earnings reported by the companies, demanding that they give some of that money back to the public and cut retail prices. These comments follow a period of soaring petrol prices, which currently average around 4.10 US dollars per gallon, driven in part by an ongoing war with Iran and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Chevron reported its highest quarterly profits in at least six years, with adjusted earnings of 12 billion US dollars. The company benefited from its lower reliance on Middle Eastern production compared to its competitors and its operations in Venezuela. ExxonMobil also posted its best quarterly profits in four years, totaling 9.2 billion US dollars, though this figure fell short of analyst expectations. Additionally, Valero Energy reported its highest ever second quarter profit of 3.7 billion US dollars.
Trump also used his Truth Social platform to berate Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, claiming Wirth failed to credit the Trump administration for the industry's success. Trump asserted that without his administration, the oil industry would be dead. A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute countered that higher prices are driven by global supply, demand, and uncertainty around shipping lanes rather than any single company.
Reporting on the event differed based on political framing. A center left source focused on the economic strain placed on low income households and the specific financial gains of the oil companies. A center right source framed the event as a strategic use of public pressure by the president to influence corporate behavior and highlighted the political risks associated with fuel prices ahead of midterm elections.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- Focused on the disparity between record corporate profits and the financial hardship faced by low income US households.
- Centre-right
- Framed the president's comments as a tactical tool to pressure corporations and a response to political risks before elections.
Sources
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.