TotalEnergies expects its refining margins to have nearly quadrupled in the third quarter compared to last year, as the Iran war continues to lift energy prices and boost profits for oil majors, the French company said in a trading update on Thursday.
The US-Israeli war with Iran, which led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has disrupted global supplies and pushed crude oil and gas prices to multi-year highs, delivering a windfall for major energy companies like Total.
TotalEnergies expects to report a refining margin of $33.2 per barrel for the July-September quarter, up from $13.5 a barrel in the previous three months, and almost four times the $8.4 per barrel it had posted a year ago.
Rival Shell said last week it expected a record-high third-quarter refining margin, while BP said on Tuesday its refining margin was set to triple from last year.
TotalEnergies and Shell will report detailed third-quarter results on October 29, with BP to follow a day later.
(Reuters - Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)