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Big oil had one of its biggest years ever in 2022

Jan 3, 2023
Both Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported their most profitable quarters of all time during the calendar year. Sustaining that growth is more complicated.
Chevron posted its most profitable quarter of all time after the war in Ukraine broke out.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

What does the price cap on Russian oil mean for global oil prices?

Dec 7, 2022
The $60 price cap was designed to limit Russian oil revenues, while keeping the oil itself flowing to avoid a global price shock.
After debating how high to set a price cap on Russian oil, Western allies agreed to $60 per barrel. 
Above, an oil refinery in Moscow.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images

OPEC+ agrees to boost oil production. But probably not enough to lower prices.

Aug 3, 2022
The small increase of 100,00 barrels a day may be a sign that the cartel thinks a recession is coming.
By pledging to increase output by just 100,000 barrels a day, OPEC could be implying that it expects demand for oil to fall. Above, OPEC's headquarters in Vienna.
Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images
"Increases in the crack spread that we've seen recently has been just supply and demand,” explained MIT professor Christopher Knittel.
George Frey/Getty Images

Why aren't oil companies drilling on their 9,000 land leases?

Aug 1, 2022
Shortages of labor and materials are making it hard to drill and maintain wells.
Shortages of steel pipe, sand and workers are cutting into potential oil production. Above, drilling rigs sit unused in Odessa, Texas.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Iran is following Russia's lead and selling oil at a discount

Jul 6, 2022
The discounted oil is cheap even once the risk of violating sanctions is factored in.
A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows an Iranian labourer walking the platform of the oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf.
ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Biden asks companies "setting those gas prices" to lower them. Can they?

Jun 23, 2022
Gas stations are usually separate from the big oil conglomerates whose names they carry. Owners are often individuals with some control over what you pay at their pumps — but not much.
Most gas stations are owned by individuals who pay to use the oil company's name.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Energy stocks are now the belle of the Wall Street ball

May 24, 2022
Energy investors have profited as prices climbed. But companies hesitate to boost production, even though costs weigh on consumers.
The sun rises behind an oil storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma. High energy prices raise costs across the economy.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. oil refiners' margins smash records, but few plan to build more plants

May 23, 2022
"Crack spreads" are higher than ever. But investors aren't interested in dumping money into fossil fuel expansion.
A "COVID hangover" is keeping the price of gas high, one expert says.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

If oil prices are off their peaks, why are gas prices still rising?

"Gasoline prices and diesel prices are going to be very high through the summer, potentially higher than they are today," says Bloomberg's Javier Blas.
Scott Olson/Getty Images