Industry executive surveys in Q2 2026 and observations by oil service firms all reflect an optimism that suggests producers are warming to increasing activity to boost oil and gas output. The key question is whether that has translated into higher investment.
Rising crude oil prices provided a powerful tailwind for Oil-Weighted E&Ps, while plunging natural gas prices wounded Gas-Weighted producers after a bountiful Q1. Today, we review the Q2 2026 results of the 37 publicly traded E&Ps we cover and analyze the remarkably wide performance gap they reveal.
Just as upstream producers settled into a lower-growth, shareholder-return-focused era, commodity prices moved sharply higher during Q1 2026. Today, we chronicle a massive rebound in profitability and cash flow from a dismal Q4 2025 for the 38 E&P companies we cover.
Managements in Q4 2025 stuck to the capital discipline that won back the hearts and wallets of investors, but surging oil and gas prices this year are putting more cash back into E&P coffers. Will that discipline hold, or will temptation take over?
The roiling of global energy markets by war in the Middle East has magnified the importance of domestic oil output and heightened interest in capital spending. Today, we look at the 2026 forecasts and offer some far-too-early speculation about the industry response to the recent surge in oil prices.
The upstream oil and gas sector has been periodically roiled by dramatic price swings triggered by world events over the last five decades. Today, we analyze the impact of bottoming oil prices on earnings and cash flows as the industry girds for an unpredictable 2026.
For E&Ps, differences in financial performance often stem from accounting methodology, specifically from whether a company uses the Full Cost (FC) or Successful Efforts (SE) method to account for its oil and gas properties. Today, we examine why this seemingly mundane topic really matters.
The stock market of 2025 often felt like different movies playing on adjacent screens. On one, the broader market surged. On the other, economically sensitive sectors such as oil and gas stocks slid into the background. Today, we examine the performance of the 35 public E&Ps we cover.
The E&Ps we track have retained investor support over the past three years despite a drop in oil prices. Their formula has been throttling back costs and investment to prioritize shareholder returns.
U.S. E&Ps have battled mightily to mitigate the impact on earnings and cash flows caused by the steady erosion in commodity prices, but concerning trends could impact future earnings.
