For decades, the major integrated oil companies have been judged by their global scale, diversified business models and shareholder returns. Yet one question is rarely asked: How competitive are their U.S. upstream businesses when measured against independent E&Ps? In today’s RBN blog, we provide answers that may surprise many investors.
We began our analysis by isolating the U.S. upstream operations of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell to examine where these assets fit within each company’s global portfolio. ExxonMobil and Chevron are the two largest U.S. producers with 2025 output of 2 MMboe/d and 1.87 MMboe/d, respectively, outpacing independents Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips and EOG Resources. BP’s 2025 output was 824 Mboe/d, approximately equal to Devon Energy (before this year’s merger with Coterra), while Shell has by far the lowest U.S. footprint at 378 Mboe/d. We then compared capital spending, reserves and operating focus before benchmarking each company's U.S. upstream performance against comparable independent E&P peer groups using standardized three-year operating and financial metrics. The analysis highlights not only where the majors are investing, but also whether those investments are generating competitive upstream returns. Figure 1 below shows the relative size of the four majors’ U.S. oil and gas reserves (blue bars and left axis) and production (orange line and right axis) that are the subject of this blog.
Figure 1. 2025 U.S. Oil and Gas Reserves and Production of the Integrated Majors.
Source: Oil & Gas Financial Analytics LLC
The Brent-WTI Spread Collapses to June 2025 Levels
The world's two leading crude oil benchmarks, Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), posted their steepest weekly declines in months during the week ended June 26 as traders continued to strip out much of the geopolitical risk premium that had supported prices throughout June. Meanwhile, the Brent-WTI spread plummeted to sub-$3/bbl levels.
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About the song
“The Long Run” was written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and appears as the first song on side one of the Eagles’ sixth studio album of the same name. The song is about commitment in a romantic relationship, but it also addresses Henley and Frey’s response to being labeled “passe” by music critics during the disco and punk eras. The song’s style is an homage to the R&B sounds that came out of Stax Studios in Memphis in the 1960s. Released as the second single from the album in November 1979, it went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Personnel on the record were: Don Henley (lead vocals, drums), Glenn Frey (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Joe Walsh (slide guitar, backing vocals), Don Felder (slide guitar, Hammond organ, backing vocals), Timothy B. Schmit (bass, backing vocals), and Joe Vitale (electric piano).
The album, The Long Run, was recorded between March 1978 and September 1979 at Criteria in Miami; Bayshore in Coconut Beach, FL; and Record Plant, One Step, Love ’n’ Comfort and Britannia in Los Angeles. Produced by Bill Szymczyk, it was released in September 1979. It went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified 7X Platinum by the RIAA. It was the first Eagles album to feature Timothy B. Schmit on bass and the last full-length Eagles album to feature Don Felder on guitar. Three singles were released from the LP.
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971 by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. All of the band members worked, recorded and toured with Linda Ronstadt before the Eagles’ career took off. They have released seven studio albums, three live albums, 10 compilation albums and 30 singles. They have sold more than 150 million records worldwide. They are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, have won four CMA Awards, six Grammy Awards, and have received Kennedy Center Honors. Nine members have passed through the band since its formation. Founding member Glenn Frey died in New York City in January 2016 at 67, and founding member Randy Meisner died in Los Angeles in July 2023 at 77. The band continues to tour and will be appearing at The Sphere in Las Vegas in September and November.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
