Just two years ago, the world’s giant oil producers seemed to be going the way of the typewriter industry. No one wanted oil—the price of a barrel fell below zero early in the pandemic.
Exxon Mobil
stock crashed hard and was dumped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after 92 years. It was starting to look like a prelude to the real extinction—the world’s transition to clean energy.
So much for that. The plunge turned into a surge, and the top oil-and-gas companies ended up rolling in cash. Exxon (ticker: XOM) is now a stock market star, with a gain of more than 60% in the turmoil of the past 12 months.
Chevron
(CVX) is up nearly 50%. What’s more, the future has brightened considerably. Instead of being destroyed by the energy transition, Big Oil has emerged in a remarkably strong position to profit from it.
