Oil and natural gas companies have been reporting their second quarter earnings during the past several days. The companies' earnings vary greatly based on their business focus.

In general, firms that have concentrated on upstream projects (exploration and production of energy resources) fared better in the second quarter than companies that have downstream (refining and marketing) operations. Due to the costs associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP lost money in the second quarter.

This chart shows that in the first quarter of 2010, oil and natural gas industry earnings averaged 7.3 cents per dollar of sales, as compared to 7.8 cents per dollar for other industries in the Dow Jones Industrials. With 12 oil and natural gas companies reporting second quarter earnings so far, the i... more »

In the wake of the Gulf oil spill, some in Washington have called for billions in new taxes on America's oil and natural gas companies. These calls may increase as companies begin announcing second-quarter earnings next week.

Earnings reports will likely focus on only half the story--profits earned. But what do the numbers really mean?

There's no doubt that strong earnings are good news--it means higher economic growth, because our industry contributes $1 trillion to the U.S. economy.

And when oil and natural gas earnings are up, who benefits?

• Millions of American workers. The industry supports more than 9 million jobs. That's a lot of jobs, especially given the current high unemployment rate.

• Millions of people who own stock in our companies. These include people with IRAs and 401k pla... more »

Publicly traded energy companies have been announcing their first-quarter earnings.

With 10 companies reporting as of April 28, the oil and natural gas industry is averaging earnings of 7.1 cents per dollar of sales. In comparison, Dow Jones Industrial companies are averaging 10.3 cents per dollar. Eighteen of the 30 Dow Jones companies have reported their first-quarter results.

Reports about oil company earnings have tended to focus on the billions of dollars earned each quarter. The earnings are large because the companies are large. Size is an attribute in the energy field, where publicly traded companies have to compete for energy supplies with government-owned or government-supported companies around the globe.

Furthermore, exploring for and producing energy is an expensive undertaki... more »

Eighteen oil and natural gas companies had reported their third quarter 2009 earnings as of yesterday afternoon, and the results have been a mixed bag. Companies that focus on oil and natural gas production--also called the upstream sector of the business--experienced a better financial quarter than large integrated companies that have both upstream and downstream operations--refining and marketing. The companies that fared worst are in the downstream portion of the business, and some of them actually lost money.

The chart below puts the companies' earnings in perspective.

At this writing, the oil and natural gas industry in the third quarter of 2009 is averaging earnings of 5.8 cents per dollar of sales. That's far below the Dow Jones Industrial companies, which are averaging 9.7 cents o... more »