Big Oil Windfalls and Data Center Energy Grids
August 7, 2026
Fossil fuel giants like Chevron, Shell, and Williams are cashing in on record quarterly windfalls driven by the Strait of Hormuz conflict and surging power demands from AI data centers. Meanwhile, regional landscapes from rural southwestern Ontario to Alberta absorb the human and environmental costs, from forgotten toxic gas leaks to intense lobbying and regulatory capture.
-
BRIEF
Two Fossil Fuel Companies Are Betting Big on Data Centers
Chevron and Williams are big winners in the race to power artificial intelligence as they build out gas-fired power plants and pipelines.
-
BRIEF
Why are oil companies posting record profits amid Iran war disruption?
Big Oil companies have bagged astronomical profits as the critical Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
- geopolitics
- structural power
-
BRIEF
Trump faces calls for windfall tax on big oil’s profits from Iran war
US president’s complaint industry ‘making too much money’ comes after his policies boosted corporations Donald Trump’s statement that oil companies have made “too much money” from the Iran war has angered environmentalists, who say that his policies were designed to benefit those very corporations.…
-
BRIEF
Company behind Olds data centre lobbying Alberta government for project approval
Synapse hires two well connected Crestview consultants to lobby in Alberta
-
BRIEF
Big Oil is targeting Canada's highest-ranking decision makers — and it's paying off
Canadian government officials met with fossil fuel lobbyists more than 1,300 times in 2024, including at least 83 times with Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson. At the same time, the federal government has weakened and rolled back several climate policies.
-
BRIEF
Canada is burning. Why won’t CBC tell us why?
When the public broadcaster reports on wildfires, heat, and extreme weather without connecting the dots to fossil fuels, it leaves Canadians without the context they need to understand the crisis unfolding around them The post Canada is burning. Why won’t CBC tell us why? appeared first on Ricochet.
-
BRIEF
Human-driven climate crisis fuels Canada’s deadly wildfires, study finds
Current blazes roaring across country more than twice as likely to occur because of fossil fuel-driven global heating The human-driven climate crisis made the conditions that led to blazes roaring across Canada, which have caused toxic smoke to spew throughout the country and into the US, twice as l…
-
BRIEF
French climate lawsuit offers a window into the next round of the global legal fight
A worker stands at a TotalEnergies refinery in northwestern France. Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images A recent decision by a French court requires a major European oil and gas company to report not only its own climate-warming emissions and those of its contractors but also those of its customers, wh…
- all
-
BRIEF
Major oil companies reap massive profits as US and Iran fighting drives energy prices higher
American oil and gas giants raked in massive spring profits while fighting between Iran and the US impeded petroleum shipments and consumers around the world paid more for fuel and confronted shortages.
-
BRIEF
Major oil firms make $93B in profit amid war and climate crisis
The three-month Iran conflict windfall reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damage.
-
BRIEF
Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis
Iran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damage Eight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than $90bn (£67bn) in just three months as the Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring and the emissions-fue…
-
BRIEF
Shell’s profits more than double after jump in oil and gas prices
Environmental groups renew calls for windfall tax to support households following Q2 earnings rise to $9.84bn Shell more than doubled its profit in its second quarter of the year, as Europe’s biggest oil and gas company reaped the benefits from the jump in oil and gas prices triggered by war in the…
-
BRIEF
War! What is it good for? Absolutely humongous oil company profits | First Dog on the Moon
Mission accomplished Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
-
BRIEF
Thousands of forgotten gas wells are killing people in southwestern Ontario
Almost unnoticed, people are dying in explosions and accidents across southwestern Ontario linked to invisible toxic gas leaking from about 27,000 long-buried gas wells.
-
BRIEF
Ontario's leaky gas well cleanup is a disgrace — and it's costing lives
People living in the former epicentre of the gas industry in rural southwestern Ontario weren’t responsible for the pollution and didn’t profit from the sales. Yet they are forced to pay cleanup costs that can run $100,000 or higher or beg the government for assistance, which is by no means guarante…