The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, April 18, edition that Europe's top three oil majors have earned billions from the energy supply crunch due to the Iran war, outpacing U.S. rivals. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that together, the trading desks at British majors and Shell and France's TotalEnergies made at least $2.5-billion (U.S.) in the first quarter. European majors have invested decades in trading desks with hundreds of employees to buy and sell crude, fuels and gas, capitalizing on price gaps across regions and time periods, while also engaging in derivatives markets. Companies with large trading operations can turn volatility into earnings. U.S. majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron primarily use traders to optimize their production and distribution networks, focusing on predictability rather than capitalizing on extreme market fluctuations. In recent weeks, the shares of BP, TotalEnergies and Shell have risen significantly due to differing strategies, while Exxon and Chevron have seen declines. BP calls its oil trading performance in the first quarter "exceptional." Shell said strong first quarter oil trading should help counter the impact on its earnings from production outages linked to the war.