“Activity in the oil and gas sector contracted slightly in the second quarter of 2025, according to oil and gas executives responding to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey. The business activity index, the survey’s broadest measure of the conditions energy firms face in the Eleventh District, turned negative, declining from 3.8 in the first quarter 2025 to -8.1 in the second. The company outlook index was little changed at -6.4, suggesting slight pessimism among firms. Meanwhile, the outlook uncertainty index increased 4 points to 47.1, indicating elevated uncertainty. Oil and gas production decreased slightly in the second quarter, according to executives at exploration and production firms. The oil production index fell from 5.6 in the first quarter to -8.9 in the second quarter,” says the intro to Wednesday’s quarterly Dallas Fed Energy survey’s main report.

Some choice comments from the survey: “The Liberation Day chaos and tariff antics have harmed the domestic energy industry. Drill, baby, drill will not happen with this level of volatility. Companies will continue to lay down rigs and frack spreads,” said an oil exec. “Tariffs are increasing our product costs. Despite efforts to mitigate their impact, the scale and breadth of the tariffs have forced us to pass these costs on to our customers. This comes at a time when the economics of oil and gas production are already challenged due to the dynamics of global oil supply and demand,” says a support service firm exec. “There is constant noise coming from the administration saying $50-per-barrel oil is the target. Everyone should understand that $50 is not a sustainable price for oil. It needs to be mid $60s,” says another exec, all of them almost certainly Trump donors.

In sort-of related news, there was a bit of a math issue in this Fox News graphic Thursday morning:

Now the defense is either going to be (A) “four years” means 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, which might’ve made sense if they did not list five years or, more likely, (B) the “if you adjust for inflation” caveat, which means Fox News should’ve adjusted for inflation as of July 3rd, 2025 to display the average prices. Not there is anything to support convicted felon President Trump’s Tuesday line of bullshit that “Gasoline just hit $1.99 today in five states – $1.99, isn’t that a nice sound?”