ExxonMobil and Chevron warn refined fuel supply will stay tight in the second half of 2026 as US petrol reaches $4.09 a gallon

According to a Washington Post report carried on Saturday, 1 August 2026, the two largest US oil producers warned that global supply of diesel and other refined products could stay constrained because of the war with Iran, keeping energy prices elevated through the second half of 2026. ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods told CNBC that resuming shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz matters a great deal for bringing more crude to market.

Data from the American Automobile Association put the average US price of a gallon of petrol at $4.09 in the week to 1 August 2026, up 3 cents from the previous week and above $3.86 a month earlier. The same measure stood at $2.98 on 28 February 2026, when the US and Israeli attacks on Iran began.

Wood Mackenzie estimates that if oil averages $90 a barrel over a year, total windfall profits across the oil industry would reach $425 billion. Separately, Democratic Representative Brad Sherman of California has introduced a bill for a windfall profits tax that would apply until the war ends, the Strait of Hormuz reopens and West Texas Intermediate falls below $75 a barrel.