As ceasefire talks offer a glimmer of hope for an end to the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, a new report from Oxfam International highlights a stark disparity: the war has been extraordinarily lucrative for a small group of energy tycoons.
According to the analysis released Monday, 41 billionaires in the oil and energy sectors across G7 countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—saw their collective wealth surge by $23.5 billion between March 1 and May 18. That works out to roughly $300 million added per day, based on data from Forbes' Real-Time Billionaire List.
War Profits vs. Global Poverty
The conflict, which began in late February, has sent oil prices soaring and triggered inflationary pressures worldwide. A United Nations Development Program report from April projected that an additional 32 million people would fall into poverty by the end of the year as a direct result of the war.
Oxfam's executive director Amitabh Behar did not mince words: “Conflict devastates countries and costs countless lives, yet for some it is extraordinarily profitable. This is a brutal system that redistributes wealth upwards — from workers to shareholders, from the poorest to the richest, from those with the least power to those who already have far too much of it. While families are skipping meals and governments slash life-saving aid, we are witnessing a grotesque billionaire bonanza.”
The report notes that the so-called Big Six oil companies—Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and TotalEnergies—are projected to see profits rise 80% above pre-war forecasts this year. In contrast, the average large G7 company in the sample is expected to post only 8% growth.
While global billionaires saw their wealth increase by about 0.42% between March and mid-May, G7 energy billionaires grew their fortunes by 9%, and those specifically in oil and gas became nearly 11% richer.
G7's Role in Widening Inequality
Oxfam argues that the Iran war has exacerbated a pre-existing chasm between rich and poor, one that G7 nations have helped create. Since 2020, billionaire wealth globally has surged by nearly $10 trillion. Meanwhile, G7 countries—led by the United States under President Donald Trump—have cut aid to the poorest nations by $48 billion, an amount equivalent to what G7 billionaires accumulated in just nine days.
Since the last G7 summit hosted by France in 2019, Oxfam estimates that 44 people per minute have become in need of humanitarian aid, based on 2025 data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Behar also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for reportedly avoiding discussions that might upset Trump during this week's summit in France, including the cost of the Iran war, Israel's US-backed campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, and the climate crisis—which Trump has dismissed as “a scam.”
“Rather than defending collective governance, Macron and his peers are accommodating its destruction. This will have consequences measured in lives,” Behar said.
Oxfam is calling on the “G6”—all G7 members except the US—to develop a comprehensive plan to shield populations from the economic turmoil caused by the war and other global crises. Behar urged them to cancel debt, tax windfall profits and extreme wealth, and provide aid to poorer countries.
“Refusing to act simply because Washington will not join them is not diplomacy—it is cowardice. And it will only accelerate the G6's slide into global irrelevance,” he added.
For Asia, the conflict's ripple effects are being felt in energy markets and supply chains across the region. Japan, a G7 member, is among the countries where energy billionaires have benefited. Meanwhile, nations like India and Vietnam are navigating higher fuel costs and inflation. The war also complicates broader security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, where the US is simultaneously accelerating anti-ship missile deployments to deter China.
