First-quarter capital spending by public U.S. oil companies up, cash from operations down

Financial results for 40 publicly traded U.S. oil exploration and production (E&P) companies show capital expenditure in the first quarter of 2023 increased from the fourth quarter of 2022, even though cash from operations declined. Previously, rising crude oil prices in the first half of 2022 had driven increased production and had helped companies post multiyear highs for cash from operations. Capital expenditure growth had been much slower over the past two years.