Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now

Crude oil prices are down, but oil companies' profits are doing just fine

Apr 28, 2023
They're making less on crude, more on refining it.
Exxon’s refinery business helped lead the company to its most profitable first quarter ever. But that’s the exception since the pandemic started three years ago.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Can oil companies use their extra money to ease pain at the pump? It's complicated.

Apr 12, 2022
It'll take more than political policy to lower prices.
 Prices for gas at an Exxon gas station on Capitol Hill are seen in Washington, DC. The cost of gasoline continues to rise across the globe and in the United States due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and continued inflation associated with the global pandemic.
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

International companies exiting Russia face logistical challenges

Mar 2, 2022
ExxonMobil has a 30% stake in the Russian oil and gas project Sakhalin-1. Divesting may be time-consuming and expensive.
For ExxonMobil, divesting from Russia might be difficult.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Oil jobs abound in West Texas, but obstacles hamper hiring

Jan 12, 2022
Is it the Great Resignation? A clean-energy future? Higher wages? Or all of the above?
Unemployment in Midland, Texas, has dropped since the summer, but the city's labor market remains tight.
Montinique Monroe/Getty Images

Oil profits drop as companies feel pandemic, carbon pressure

Feb 4, 2021
More than 500 oil- and gas-related firms have declared bankruptcy. The survivors are focusing on efficiency, and some plan a transition.
Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images

OPEC delays and spending cuts: Uncertainty abounds in the oil and gas industry

Dec 1, 2020
OPEC and its allies are having trouble coming to an agreement, because individual countries see thing differently.
The Brega oil port in Libya in September.
AFP via Getty Images

Exxon Mobil goes on trial for allegedly defrauding investors about climate change risk

Oct 22, 2019
The gas and oil giant used two sets of books, the New York attorney general's office alleges.
The oil and gas giant is on trial for committing fraud over climate change risk. Above, an Exxon gas station in Burbank, California.
David McNew/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Exxon Mobil slides out of S&P 500 top 10

Sep 3, 2019
Four decades ago, energy companies made up 25% of the S&P 500 index. Now it’s 4%.
David McNew/Getty Images

A turnaround for oil companies?

Feb 1, 2019
Some investors are optimistic that Big Oil has been able to ride out the plummeting prices of late last year.

U.S. oil companies take cautious approach despite higher prices and demand

Apr 27, 2018
With the U.S.-based oil giants Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. scheduled to release their first quarter 2018 earnings Friday morning, we look at the state of the oil industry. Companies are reaping the benefits from higher oil prices and demand. But what is big oil investing in these days, with an eye toward the future? Click […]