Jack Gerard
Jane Van Ryan
Cyclical--that's one of the words often used to describe the oil and natural gas industry. The word refers to the economic peaks and valleys that have been experienced many times during the industry's 150-year history. A few months ago, when oil prices were climbing to an all-time high of $147 a barrel on the global market, the industry made a lot of money, and earned a similar return as other industries based on the average rate per dollar of sales. During the first quarter of 2009, earnings fell precipitously as oil prices hovered in the $50 a barrel range.
Here at API, we track publicly released information about the oil companies earnings and contrast them with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Based on the reports we've gathered through May 1, oil companies earned 5.1 cents per dollar of sales during the first quarter of 2009. The DJIA companies earned twice as much--10.2 cents on each dollar of sales.
Surprised? Here's more information below.
What Goes Up Can Come Down: The Case of Oil Industry Earnings
Leave a comment
We welcome your thoughts and opinions on the topics posted by the authors of EnergyTomorrow Blog. We hope you’ll help us make this blog a place of informed and respectful conversation, where visitors can learn about energy issues and discuss ideas that will shape our energy future.
Please note, if this is your first time submitting a comment here, one of our administrators will need to approve it for posting. Until it’s approved, it won’t appear in the comment thread. In the meantime, thank you for waiting! (Read our full comment policy here.)