Despite the decline in gas prices, ExxonMobil and Chevron managed to achieve significant profits in the last quarter. Although these figures were lower than the previous year, they surpassed Wall Street expectations and remained higher than before the energy price surge caused by the Ukraine invasion over a year ago.

ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the United States, posted $11.6 billion in earnings, excluding extraordinary items. This represents a 38% drop from the peak quarterly profit of $18.7 billion achieved in the third quarter of the previous year. Nevertheless, this figure is more than double the $5.5 billion reported in the first quarter of 2022 and exceeds the $10.5 billion forecast by Refinitiv analysts by over $1 billion.

Meanwhile, Chevron recorded earnings of $6.7 billion, excluding special items, marking a 40% decrease from its peak earnings of $11.4 billion in the second quarter of the previous year. This figure, however, is slightly higher than the $6.5 billion earned a year ago and surpasses the $6.4 billion forecast.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent sanctions on Russian energy exports, oil companies worldwide experienced a significant boost in profits last year. Despite this, US gas prices have been steadily dropping since reaching a record $5.02 per gallon in June.

The current average US gas price is $3.67 per gallon, up almost 6% from a month ago when OPEC and its allied oil-producing nations agreed to reduce production. This price, however, is down 12% from a year ago when prices were still on the rise.

Upon the release of these reports, ExxonMobil shares increased by 1%, while Chevron (CVX) shares saw little change in premarket trading.