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 »

Over the last few days, we've asked you a number of energy-related questions about topics such as energy demand, supply, taxes and oil company ownership. Now it's truly time to put your knowledge to the test:

What's Your Energy IQ? You can use the widget below to answer all the survey questions, and you can watch the Energy IQ videos to see how other people answered the questions.

The third annual Energy IQ survey, conducted for the American Petroleum Institute (API) by Harris Interactive®, comes as a new administration and Congress are pursuing energy and climate policies that will determine America's economic competitiveness for years to come.

In comparing the new results to surveys from previous years, Harris Interactive found that Americans are more aware of how current poli... more »