US balancing act
The majors are facing a capital spending conundrum sooner than many in the industry expected
As a flurry of positive quarterly earnings statements marks a return to health for the oil industry, executives are confronted once again with the issue of how best to allocate capital to generate superior total shareholder return (TSR) performance. After nearly four years, during which oil companies kept a tight grip on capital in a "lower-for-longer" oil price environment, some shareholders are clamouring for companies to return cash to investors in the form of special dividends and share buybacks. But industry executives would be wrong to listen wholly to the call, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Its inaugural Oil Sector Value Creator Report, to be published later this yea
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5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
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The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
