Oil Company Earnings Lag Behind Dow Jones Industrial Average

Jane Van Ryan
Posted August 3, 2009

Second quarter 2009 earnings reports clearly show the recession's impact on the energy sector.

With 14 large oil and natural gas companies reporting their 2Q earnings so far, the industry's earnings amount to an average of 4.4 cents per dollar of sales. In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) companies achieved 9.3 cents per dollar in the second quarter with 23 of the 30 companies reporting.