Energy companies that spend the most on R&D
Research and development expense is what the company charged to R&D in the income statement for the year. Most companies report no R&D at all — the line is absent rather than zero — so this ranking covers the roughly 40% of filers that do. Figures are for fiscal year 2025 and are read directly from each company's SEC filings; the source column on every row links to the document.
Shell (SHEL) tops the list with $1.2B in r&d expense for fiscal 2025, ahead of Totalenergies ($810M) and SLB ($709M). The top 10 together report $5.1B in r&d expense; the gap between #1 and #10 is ×7.65. 27 companies in Energy report r&d expense, 2.1% of the 1270-filer universe. The last place on the list, KLX Energy Services, comes in at $1.7M.
| # | Company | R&D expense | YoY | 15-year trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ShellSHELGB | $1.2B | +6.5% | |
| 2 | TotalenergiesTTEFR | $810M | +0.6% | |
| 3 | SLBSLBUS | $709M | −5.3% | |
| 4 | Baker HughesBKRUS | $600M | −6.7% | |
| 5 | ChevronCVXUS | $427M | +21.0% | |
| 6 | HalliburtonHALUS | $411M | −3.5% | |
| 7 | EquinorEQNRNO | $352M | +1.1% | |
| 8 | BPBPGB | $274M | −9.0% | |
| 9 | EniEIT | $234M | +21.4% | |
| 10 | Prairie OperatingPROPUS | $153M | +302.4% | |
| 11 | Weatherford InternationalWFRDUS | $108M | −12.2% | |
| 12 | Imperial OilIMOCA | $95.9M | +11.3% | |
| 13 | SasolSSLZA | $86.7M | +5.0% | |
| 14 | TechnipfmcFTIGB | $83.1M | +13.2% | |
| 15 | ConocoPhillipsCOPUS | $78.0M | −3.7% | |
| 16 | Quaker ChemicalKWRUS | $60.7M | +5.9% | |
| 17 | Nabors IndustriesNBRBM | $53.1M | −7.0% | |
| 18 | Helmerich & PayneHPUS | $34.1M | −16.7% | |
| 19 | Ypf Sociedad AnonimaYPFAR | $28.0M | −30.0% | |
| 20 | Cenovus EnergyCVECA | $15.1M | −21.9% | |
| 21 | ValvolineVVVUS | $15.0M | +15.4% | |
| 22 | Nacco IndustriesNCUS | $9.7M | +1.0% | |
| 23 | Innovex InternationalINVXUS | $6.7M | +81.1% | |
| 24 | Phillips 66PSXUS | $6.0M | −60.0% | |
| 25 | Oil States InternationalOISUS | $5.1M | −1.9% | |
| 26 | NCS MultistageNCSMUS | $2.0M | 0.0% | |
| 27 | KLX Energy ServicesKLXEUS | $1.7M | +21.4% |
All figures from SEC filings · FY2025 · 27
see sources
- Shell 0001628280-26-017024
- Totalenergies 0001104659-26-035876
- SLB 0001193125-26-021017
- Baker Hughes 0001701605-26-000007
- Chevron 0000093410-26-000078
- Halliburton 0000045012-26-000015
- Equinor 0001140625-26-000013
- BP 0000313807-26-000006
- Eni 0001554855-26-000390
- Prairie Operating 0001140361-26-012036
- Weatherford International 0001603923-26-000014
- Imperial Oil 0000049938-26-000009
- Sasol 0001410578-25-001910
- Technipfmc 0001681459-26-000010
- ConocoPhillips 0001163165-26-000009
- Quaker Chemical 0001628280-26-010694
- Nabors Industries 0001104659-26-014997
- Helmerich & Payne 0000046765-25-000071
- Ypf Sociedad Anonima 0001193125-26-126363
- Cenovus Energy 0001564590-20-004341
- Valvoline 0001674910-21-000136
- Nacco Industries 0000789933-17-000007
- Innovex International 0001193125-26-067228
- Phillips 66 0001534701-26-000006
- Oil States International 0001121484-26-000012
- NCS Multistage 0001437749-26-007065
- KLX Energy Services 0001738827-26-000013
Embed this table
Free to use on any site. The table updates itself whenever the data is rebuilt — you paste it once. The only condition is that you keep the credit line below the table, so readers can reach the source.
<iframe src="https://companiesranked.com/embed/en/energy-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development" title="Energy companies that spend the most on R&D" width="100%" height="478" loading="lazy" style="max-width:680px;border:1px solid #e5e2dc;border-radius:6px"></iframe>
<p style="max-width:680px;font:13px system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://companiesranked.com/en/energy-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development">Energy companies that spend the most on R&D</a> — CompaniesRanked, compiled from SEC EDGAR filings</p>Cite this page
Ready-made references for the figures on this page, as published on September 25, 2026.
Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Energy companies that spend the most on R&D |url=https://companiesranked.com/en/energy-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development |website=CompaniesRanked |date=2026-09-25 |language=en}}APA 7
CompaniesRanked. (September 25, 2026). Energy companies that spend the most on R&D. CompaniesRanked. https://companiesranked.com/en/energy-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-developmentBibTeX
@misc{companiesranked-en-energy-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development-2026,
author = {{CompaniesRanked}},
title = {{Energy companies that spend the most on R\&D}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://companiesranked.com/en/energy-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development}},
note = {Compiled from SEC EDGAR XBRL filings; data as of 2026-09-25},
urldate = {2026-09-25}
}The figures are rebuilt with every data refresh, so the reference carries the publication date. Add your own access date if your style requires one.
Companies that spend the most on research and development →