We have heard a lot about gasoline prices. Most of the reporting says they are because of the Iran conflict and that prices will rapidly decease when the conflict is over. We also hear that the United States is hardly at all dependent on foreign oil.

I looked at a couple of companies directly involved, ExxonMobile and Chevron. ExxonMobile for the second quarter of 2025 had a profit of $7.08 billion. For the same second quarter of 2026, when the Iran conflict started, its profit was $14.53 billion — approximately double. Similarly, Chevron’s profit in the second quarter of 2025 was $2.49 billion. In the second quarter of 2026, it was $12.07 billion.

Perhaps it is not the Iran conflict but oil company price gouging?