When the oil industry gets lucky and prices rise, executives reap the benefits, according to an Energy Journal analysis of pay at 78 U.S. energy companies by University of Michigan economist Catherine Hausman and UC Berkeley economist Lucas Davis.
Executives tend to get substantial raises when oil prices climb, even though prices are generally driven by geopolitical forces and other factors outside their control, Hausman said. And when prices fall, executive pay doesn’t budge.
