Sector
Energy sector explained
Companies that find and produce oil and natural gas, refine it into fuels, move it through pipelines, or make fuel for nuclear power plants. Their customers include refiners, utilities, airlines, factories and drivers.
Companies we cover
2 companies in Energy
Chevron
CVXChevron produces oil and natural gas and refines and sells fuels, with sales and other operating revenues of $184.4 billion in FY2025.
Discloses: SomeUpdated for Q3 FY2026 · checked
ExxonMobil
XOMExxonMobil produces oil and natural gas and makes fuels, chemicals and lubricants, with sales and other operating revenue of $323.9 billion in FY2025.
Discloses: A lotUpdated for Q3 FY2026 · checked
The companies side by side
Each figure is from the company's own page, for its latest full fiscal year unless a date is shown. Fiscal years end in different months, so the same label can cover different periods. Select a column heading to re-order the rows.
Net income per $100 of revenue: Cityfort calculation from each company's annual numbers (net income ÷ revenue × 100). Free cash flow: cash from operations minus capital spending, as on each company's page. Debt-to-equity: total debt ÷ shareholders' equity, as on each company's page for the balance-sheet date shown. Sources for every figure are on each company's page. US$, GAAP as reported.
How companies in this sector earn
How do Energy companies make money?
- Producers drill wells and sell the oil and natural gas they pump, at prices set largely by world markets.
- Refiners buy crude oil and sell gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and chemicals made from it, earning the gap between the two prices.
- Pipeline and storage companies charge fees to move and hold oil and gas, often under long contracts.
- Nuclear fuel companies mine, convert or enrich uranium and sell it to power plant operators.
- Drilling, equipment, staff and the cost of finding new reserves are the largest costs, and many projects take years to pay back.
Who regulates it
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for air, water and emissions rules · Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), for interstate pipelines · Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), for offshore oil and gas leases · Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for uranium fuel facilities
What moves results across the sector
- World oil and natural gas prices, which move revenue and profit across the sector.
- Production volumes and new projects, which the companies report each quarter.
- Rules on emissions, drilling permits and nuclear fuel licenses.
Words you'll meet
Key terms
- Upstream
- Finding and producing oil and gas, from exploration to the well.
- Downstream
- Refining crude oil and selling the fuels and chemicals made from it.
- Proved reserves
- Oil and gas a company expects, with reasonable certainty, to produce from known fields under existing conditions, as defined by SEC rules.
- Refining margin
- The difference between what a refiner pays for crude oil and what it earns from the fuels it makes.
- Uranium enrichment
- Raising the share of the uranium type that splits in a reactor, so the fuel can be used in power plants.
Last updated Nov 6, 2026.
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