Why U.S. Oil Companies Are Not Plugging the World’s Energy Gap

If there are any winners from the war with Iran in the business world, they are Western oil companies that are reaping the rewards of much higher energy prices.

But don’t expect them to invest their bumper profits into pumping a lot more oil and natural gas — at least not yet.

In fact, there were fewer rigs drilling wells in the United States last week than there were when the war started on Feb. 28, according to the energy company Baker Hughes. Domestic oil production might even fall in 2026, the Energy Department said last month.

There are a few reasons companies are being so conservative. It takes many months to drill a new well and extract oil from it. As a result, companies base their decisions far more on what they think the price of crude will be in six months or a year than on today’s price.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/business/energy-environment/exxon-mobile-chevron-oil-iran-war.html