Exxon, Chevron Will Spend More on Stock Returns Than Production

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. will together give more cash to shareholders than they invest in oil and gas production this year even as political leaders call on the industry to increase output to help ease soaring consumer prices.

The U.S. supermajors will shower investors with a combined $50.3 billion in stock buybacks and dividends this year, compared with $37.5 billion in total capital expenditures, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That gap is the highest since Big Oil’s heyday in 2008. In fact, for 11 of the past 15 years, Exxon and Chevron have actually done the opposite: Their combined capital expenditures have exceeded shareholder returns.