Iran Conflict Drives Oil Prices to $106 as Energy Companies Feel Pinch

Oil prices surged to $106 per barrel in September as tensions with Iran escalated, causing disruptions to global energy supplies. According to JPMorgan data cited by OilPrice, the conflict has disrupted around 10 million barrels of oil per day.

Chevron was relatively insulated from these disruptions, losing only about 1% of its total production due to issues in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The company's adjusted earnings for the second quarter reached $12 billion on production of 4.07 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

ConocoPhillips, however, experienced a decline in production in Qatar, where it averaged around 82,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, or 3.5% of the company's total volume. Its average realized price rose by 36% year-on-year to $62.33 per barrel of oil equivalent.

Cheniere Energy may benefit from increased demand for US LNG as QatarEnergy negotiates multi-year contracts with Cheniere and other companies, including Venture Global and Woodside, to replace lost volumes. The company recently completed the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion, increasing its combined production capacity at Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass to approximately 56 million tonnes of LNG per year.

Shell's adjusted earnings in the second quarter were $9.8 billion, despite damage to one of its processing units at the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar. Marathon Petroleum also benefited from high oil prices, with a refining and marketing margin that rose to $36.33 per barrel from $17.58 a year earlier.