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Hey listeners, it's Wednesday, February 19th. I'm Chip Cutter for the Wall Street Journal,

and this is what's news and earnings, our look at the broad themes that stood out in the latest

earnings season. Today, we're focusing on the energy industry. Oil giants have already watched

their annual profits dip as a result of low natural gas prices and lower margins in their oil

refining businesses, and now many are trying to

prepare for far less favorable market conditions ahead, with some big strategy shifts coming, too.

President Trump is looking to slash regulations to help big energy companies, but he also wants to see the price of crude oil fall and unwelcome prospect for companies such as Exxon and Chevron. How are they responding? Colin Eaton writes about the largest oil companies and global energy issues in the Wall Street Journal's Houston Bureau. He joins us now. Hi, Colin. Colin, you've been sifting through the earnings reports of big oil companies

like Exxon, Chevron, and others over the past few weeks. What's the biggest trend that jumps out at you?

So if you take a look at just the top 10 U.S. oil and gas companies from Chevron and Exxon down to Devin,

collectively they brought in about $17.5 billion in net income in the fourth quarter.

That sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But actually, it's the lowest amount of money they've

earned altogether since late 2021. Now, they had been riding high for about three years.

Three years ago, you recall Russia invaded Ukraine. Energy prices

went through the roof. Post-COVID oil demands started to shoot up. Oil companies started

making money again, and they started to shell out record sums of money to shareholders via

dividends and stock buybacks. Fast forward to where we are now.

Oil and gas prices have come back down to earth.

Their earnings have followed.

Natural gas prices have been pretty weak.

Refinery margins have tightened a lot since gasoline prices were at a record $5 a gallon nationally in the summer of 2022.

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