The world’s biggest energy companies are poised to deliver another quarter of bumper profits, fuelled by record refining margins. Flush with cash, Big Oil now needs to chart a course for future growth in a world reshaped by the Middle East crisis, according to Reuters.

Big Oil has seen its cash coffers balloon this year. The five largest Western oil companies BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and TotalEnergies are expected to report combined third-quarter profits of around $53 billion, according to RBC Capital Markets estimates, up from $48 billion in the second quarter and more than double year-earlier levels.

Yet since the start of the Iran war in late February, oil majors have largely reacted cautiously to this windfall, directing billions toward debt reduction rather than major new investments. Combined debt is set to drop to $150bn in the third quarter from $200bn in the first quarter, according to LSEG estimates.

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