US Oil Majors Shift Focus to Domestic Production Amid Iran War Fallout

US oil majors are shifting their focus to domestic production in response to lower output due to Donald Trump's war against Iran. Despite posting double-digit billion-dollar returns in Q2, US oil majors' gains were largely driven by price effects rather than production growth. Chevron was the only major to achieve quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year production increases, while Shell's output dropped by 300,000 barrels per day.

ExxonMobil has increased its US production to a record 2.1 million barrels per day to offset losses in Qatar and Oman. Chevron has been at the forefront of Venezuela's upstream revival. The war has allowed for significant debt reductions among US oil majors, with Chevron and ExxonMobil paying down $8 billion and $7 billion, respectively.