U.S. E&Ps have battled mightily to mitigate the impact on earnings and cash flows caused by the steady erosion in commodity prices since their 2022 peak. For crude-oil-focused producers, in particular, the struggle has become almost operatic as the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecast for a plunge in 2026 oil prices to around $50/bbl portends future gloom. The darker clouds stayed away as geopolitical risk premiums supported oil prices in Q3 2025, although natural gas prices were weighed down by elevated storage levels during the injection season. In today’s RBN blog, we analyze the relatively stable quarterly results and take a look ahead to more concerning commodity price trends that could impact earnings in the last quarter of the year.
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Over the past two years, E&P managements have struggled to support their strong shareholder return programs by echoing the same strategic themes: rigorous cost control and capital discipline. As shown in Figure 1 below, lifting costs (blue line and left axis) for the 39 E&Ps we track have declined by more than $2/boe, or 16%, since mid-2022, helping to bring down total costs (orange bars and right axis) over the past three quarters. Synergies from increased operating efficiencies, lower overhead, and high-grading portfolios have driven major industry consolidation. As we outlined in Let’s Wait Awhile, producers have increasingly put the brakes on capital spending, reducing investment intensity per boe of production by 10% in just the last year alone.
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About the song
“It’s the Same Old Song” was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and appears as the fifth song on side two of the Four Tops’ second studio album, Four Tops Second Album. Holland-Dozier-Holland originally wrote the song for The Supremes, and they recorded their rendition of it two months before the Four Tops. Their version wouldn’t be released until 1967. It’s been said that the Four Tops recorded, mixed and released their rendition in 24 hours. Released in July 1965, it went to #2 on the Billboard R&B and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts. Personnel on the record were: Levi Stubbs (lead vocals), Abdul Fakir (first tenor backing vocals), Lawrence Payton (second tenor backing vocals), Renaldo Benson (bass backing vocals), The Andantes (backing vocals), Mike Terry (baritone saxophone), The Funk Brothers (instrumentation), and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (strings).
Four Tops Second Album was recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit and produced by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Smokey Robinson. Released in November 1965, it went to #3 on the Billboard R&B and #20 on the Billboard 200 Albums charts. Three charting singles were released from the LP.
The Four Tops are an American soul music vocal group formed in Detroit in 1953 as the Four Arms. Stubbs, Fakir, Benson and Payton were in the group for more than four decades, without a change in the lineup until 1997. They were one of the main Detroit groups in the 1960s that helped put Motown Records on the map. They signed with Berry Gordy and Motown Records in 1963. They have released 27 studio albums, two live albums, 10 compilation albums and 59 singles. They have sold more than 50 million records worldwide. They are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, and have a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ten people have passed through the group since its formation. Lawrence Payton died in Detroit in 1997 at 59. Renaldo Benson died in Detroit in July 2005 at 69. Levi Stubbs died in Detroit in October 2008 at 72, and Abdul Fakir died in Detroit in June 2024 at 88. Lawrence Payton Jr. — the son of founding member Lawrence Payton — Theo Peoples, Ronnie McNeir and Michael Brock still perform as the Four Tops. They are currently on tour in the U.S.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
