Chevron Q3 Profit Nearly Triples to $9.9 Billion as U.S. Refining Earns $35.80 a Barrel and Exxon Returns $9.4 Billion

Chevron and ExxonMobil both reported third-quarter results on Friday, October 30, and both beat Wall Street estimates. Chevron earned $9.9 billion, or $5.06 per share, nearly triple the year-earlier figure. ExxonMobil earned $15.4 billion, or $3.72 per share, more than double its prior-year result.

Refining supplied much of the gain at both companies. Brent and U.S. crude both traded above $100 per barrel on Friday, according to the Associated Press, and diesel retailed at $6.32 per gallon, up 71% from a year earlier.

Chevron: Refining Now Rivals Upstream

Chevron's downstream segment earned $4.93 billion in the quarter, up from $1.14 billion a year earlier, as reported by OilPrice.com. U.S. refining alone contributed $3.59 billion, versus $638 million in the third quarter of 2025. Refineries ran at 98% of capacity and processed a record 1.09 million barrels per day.

Oil Authority divided that U.S. refining profit by the quarter's 92 days of throughput. The result is $35.80 earned for every barrel of crude Chevron refined in the United States. The company did not publish a per-barrel figure; this is our calculation from reported totals.

Upstream earnings rose to $5.7 billion from $3.3 billion. Brent averaged $97 per barrel in the quarter, against $69 a year earlier, a gain of $28. Downstream now makes up 46.4% of combined segment earnings, compared with 25.7% a year ago.

Production Fell While Profit Rose

Chevron's worldwide output slipped to 3.98 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from 4.09 million, a decline of 2.7%. Upstream earnings per barrel of oil equivalent still climbed from $8.77 to $15.57 on our math. Price, not volume, drove the quarter.

U.S. production stayed above 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day for a fifth straight quarter. Capital spending fell from a year earlier because of lower Permian outlays, according to the AP. Chevron set production records at its Eastern Mediterranean and Australian assets.

The Hess Effect in the Bakken

Chevron closed its $53 billion acquisition of Hess in 2025, which added Bakken acreage and Guyana interests to its portfolio. The AP reports that Chevron has since signed agreements to cut Bakken midstream costs by about 50%. Lower gathering and processing fees raise the netback on every Bakken barrel the company produces.

Venezuela entered the results for the first time, with one month of production included after an accounting change. Chevron's joint ventures there expect to spend $7 billion over five years, and the company says it could more than double output. Volumes were not disclosed.

Exxon: Cash Returns Set the Pace

ExxonMobil posted adjusted earnings of $17.5 billion, or $4.23 per share, against a $4.12 analyst average. It generated $25.7 billion of operating cash flow and $19.1 billion of free cash flow. Shareholder distributions reached $9.4 billion, split between $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in buybacks.

Distributions absorbed 49.2% of Exxon's free cash flow. Chevron's $2.5 billion in buybacks equaled 20.8% of its $12 billion free cash flow, and the company used $3.5 billion to cut debt. Exxon also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.07 and authorized a new $20 billion buyback.

Exxon's U.S. Gulf Coast refineries ran at 100% utilization, and diesel output there was the second highest on record. Distillate production is up about 40% since 2019, which the AP links partly to the Beaumont expansion in Texas.

What Is Different From Last Week

On October 23, Oil Authority covered Eni's Q3 results, where upstream earnings drove the gain and the buyback rose to EUR 3.8 billion. The American majors show a different mix. Refining and trading, not exploration, supplied the largest share of the increase at Chevron and ExxonMobil.

That split matters for durability. Upstream gains depend on Brent holding near current levels. Refining margins depend on diesel cracks staying wide, and both can narrow if Gulf export flows recover.