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OPEC+ in 2026: The Discipline Question Returns
OPEC+ enters the second quarter of 2026 facing a familiar problem: the gap between stated production targets and what members actually want to pump is widening again. The cartel's credibility is structurally tested every time oil prices threaten to recover toward levels that would incentivize non-OPEC growth — and
Q1 2026 Earnings Preview: What to Watch
State of U.S. Upstream: The 2026 Benchmarking Report
Every quarter, CIR benchmarks U.S. upstream across the metrics that actually matter: production volumes, rig count by basin, year-over-year trajectory, and the macro environment heading into the next period. This is the Q1 2026 edition.
Production: The January Reset
EIA data for January 2026 shows U.S. crude production
One Year In: What CIR Got Right — And What We Missed
A year ago, CIR launched with a simple thesis: the U.S. upstream sector was entering a new phase — one defined not by production growth at any cost, but by capital discipline, consolidation, and the slow monetization of America's gas resource base. Twelve months later, it's
Q4 2025 Earnings: Mid-Cap E&Ps and the Diversification Dividend
February Rig Count: Q1 2026 Taking Shape
The Baker Hughes rig count is the most widely cited real-time indicator of upstream activity in the United States, published weekly every Friday. As February 2026 closes, the count provides the clearest signal yet of how operators are executing on the 2026 capital programs they outlined during Q4 earnings.
February