Cost of producing a barrel of oil and gas Average cash cost to produce a barrel of oil or gas equivalent in 2016, based on data from March 2016. The world has changed for oil producers. When crude-oil prices were more than $100 a barrel just two years ago, the ensuing profits were huge, filling government coffers and swelling company earnings. Now prices barely cover the average cost to get the oil out of the ground in places like the U.K. Additional expenses, like taxes on profits, mean that the actual breakeven price for many projects is higher, and newer and more complex projects generally fall well above the average cash cost of production. Oil-producing nations from Saudi Arabia to Norway are reining in spending while big energy firms like Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Chevron Corp. have made deep spending cuts and laid off thousands of workers. Here’s […]