Big Oil sets production records on lean budgets, but reserves lag behind

Big Oil is pumping more crude than ever while spending far less to drill it, thanks to longer wells, automation and a shift to fast-payback assets. The catch: they're finding new reserves slower than they're depleting old ones. That efficiency lifts near-term cash for Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil (XOM), Shell (SHEL), BP (BP) and TotalEnergies (TTE), but a thinner reserve pipeline raises questions about future output.