An expensive tank of petrol hurts whether you are filling up in Noida or New York. For Donald Trump, rising oil fortunes have brought a different outcome: his energy investments have grown in value during the Iran war, with congressional Democrats estimating his oil and gas holdings at as much as $81.6 million.
The contrast is sharpest in America, where the same analysis puts families’ additional petrol spending since the war began at an average of $856. As motorists absorb the higher bills, five global oil giants have reported $56.3 billion in combined quarterly adjusted profits. Trump holds shares in two of them, ExxonMobil and Chevron. The White House says independent managers control his portfolio.
For Indian households, the pressure from expensive fuel is familiar. It shows up in commuting costs, freight charges and the price of getting goods to market. Global oil shocks do not translate uniformly into retail pump prices, but their reach extends far beyond the countries fighting the war.
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In the US, the collision between household bills, corporate profits and the president’s personal wealth comes just before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine control of both chambers of Congress.
The President’s Growing Oil Stakes
Democrats on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee estimated Trump’s oil and gas investments were worth between $22.5 million and $81.6 million, compared with a disclosed range of $12.6 million to $46 million at the end of 2025.
The higher valuation reflects both additional investments and rising share prices. Stocks held at the end of last year had appreciated by an average of 43%, according to the committee’s analysis using LSEG market data.
Between March and August, Trump’s accounts purchased between $4.7 million and $17.5 million in oil and gas stocks. Sales over the same period ranged from $2 million to $5.4 million. More than 94% of his purchases in the sector this year occurred after the war began on February 28, the committee said.
Chevron and ExxonMobil accounted for the largest exposures among nine major holdings examined. His Chevron investment was valued at up to $23.1 million, while ExxonMobil stood at as much as $18.4 million. Their shares had risen nearly 25% and 22%, respectively, since February 20.
The estimates incorporate purchases, sales and share-price appreciation through October 19. Because financial disclosures report investments in dollar bands, they do not establish an exact portfolio value. Nor is the increase entirely investment profit: fresh purchases also enlarged the holdings. September and October transactions had not yet been reported when the analysis was prepared.
The committee separately calculated that American families had spent approximately $101 billion more on petrol since the conflict began.
A Sale On Ceasefire Day
An earlier transaction adds a striking detail to the scrutiny.
On April 7, the day Trump announced a ceasefire in the Iran war, his investment accounts sold between $500,000 and $1 million in ExxonMobil shares, according to a financial disclosure filed in late June and examined by CBS News.
ExxonMobil closed at $163.91 that day. Trump announced the ceasefire that evening. The following morning, the stock opened at $153.52, down more than 6%.
The disclosure identifies the transaction date, but does not establish that Trump directed the sale or that it involved advance knowledge of the announcement.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CBS that third-party financial institutions independently managed the president’s stock and bond investments. The holdings, he said, were maintained in discretionary accounts using computer-based model portfolios designed to replicate recognised market indices.
Ingle said neither Trump nor his family could direct, influence or provide input on investment decisions or the timing of trades. He denied any conflict of interest and defended the president’s conduct.
CBS also noted that Trump had said in a July CNBC interview that his son Eric handled his finances.
The energy holdings represent a small portion of a much larger fortune. Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at approximately $7 billion in September. His investment accounts have executed thousands of stock and securities transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars this year.
US presidents, vice-presidents and members of Congress can hold and trade shares while in office, subject to insider-trading laws. The holdings and their appreciation do not themselves establish wrongdoing.
A $56.3 Billion Quarter For Big Oil
For the oil companies, the disruption has produced an exceptionally profitable quarter.
ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies together earned $56.3 billion in adjusted third-quarter net income, according to Bloomberg. Every company exceeded analysts’ expectations. Their combined earnings were the third-highest on record.
A major source of those profits sits between the oilfield and the petrol pump.
War and attacks on energy infrastructure have disrupted refining operations in the Middle East and Russia, restricting supplies of finished fuels. Companies with refineries still running strongly have benefited from the shortage.
The US Energy Information Administration reported that American refinery utilisation averaged 95% in the third quarter. Petrol refining margins more than doubled from a year earlier, while margins on distillates, including diesel, and jet fuel almost tripled.
American plants were processing the most crude for a third quarter since 2019, even though refining capacity had been higher then. Strong export demand from markets short of fuel helped keep those plants busy.
ExxonMobil reported adjusted earnings of $17.5 billion, beating the $16.6 billion analyst estimate. Adjusted earnings per share reached $4.23, against expectations of $4.08.
Its adjusted Energy Products earnings climbed to approximately $9.05 billion, exceeding the $7.31 billion from upstream oil and gas production. On a reported accounting basis, total quarterly earnings were $15.4 billion.
The company distributed $9.4 billion to shareholders, including $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share repurchases. Its US Gulf Coast refineries operated at 100% crude-unit utilisation during the quarter.
Chevron’s downstream earnings also reached their highest level in at least six years. Shell reported adjusted earnings of $10.8 billion and raised its quarterly buyback programme to $5 billion from $3 billion. BP posted underlying replacement-cost profit of $8.46 billion, its highest quarterly result under the company’s current reporting measure.
Trump had criticised ExxonMobil and Chevron in August for making “too much money” because of fuel shortages. Both remain among the largest energy investments identified in the Democratic analysis.
What Motorists Are Paying
At American filling stations, regular petrol rose from an average of $2.87 a gallon in early February to approximately $4.29, according to the reporting examined. Diesel climbed from $3.68 to $6.28.
Reuters, citing AAA data, reported that petrol had averaged $3.472 a gallon during Trump’s second term, marginally exceeding the $3.471 average under Joe Biden.
The difference between those petrol averages is tiny. The diesel comparison is wider: $4.343 during Trump’s second term against $4.078 under Biden. Diesel reached a record $6.523 on September 22.
Diesel costs travel through the economy. They affect trucks delivering food, machinery working farms and businesses moving raw materials. Households can feel the increase without owning a diesel vehicle.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told Reuters that inflation-adjusted comparisons provide better context. Americans are not spending a record proportion of their income on filling their tanks, even as the higher bills feed concerns about inflation.
The White House argues that recovering supplies will bring relief. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Reuters that Middle Eastern oil exports had rebounded substantially and that fuel prices would fall sharply once the conflict ended.
Regional exports reached 24.6 million barrels a day in the week to October 18, their highest level since the war began, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.
That recovery has yet to remove fuel prices from the election campaign. Trump has accused Iran of trying to push oil prices higher before the vote. Democrats have answered with calculations of what the war has cost American families and what has happened to his investments.
On November 3, voters will cast their ballots after months of higher fuel bills. ExxonMobil and Chevron, meanwhile, have just delivered another lucrative quarter, and the president’s accounts hold substantial stakes in both.
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