Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas  

Release: Dallas Fed Energy Survey  

Units:  Diffusion Index, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Quarterly

The Dallas Fed Energy Survey is a quarterly assessment of oil and gas firms' operations. Executives report on business conditions involving a number of indicators, such as business activity, capital expenditures, employment, input prices and company outlook. For all questions, participants are asked whether the indicator has increased, decreased or remained unchanged relative to the prior quarter and the year-ago quarter. Participants are also given the opportunity to submit comments on current issues that may be affecting their business.

The Dallas Fed Energy Survey samples about 200 companies and began collecting data in first quarter 2016. The survey covers upstream energy firms located or headquartered in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District--Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana--including exploration and production (E&P) companies and oil and gas support services firms. The survey does not cover midstream companies such as pipeline transportation services firms or downstream companies such as petroleum refiners. (These industries are included in the Texas Business Outlook Surveys.) Energy Survey questionnaires are electronically transmitted to respondents toward the end of each quarter, and answers are collected over seven business days. Results are generally published the last Wednesday of the quarter.

Survey responses are used to calculate an index for each indicator. Each index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents reporting a decrease from the percentage reporting an increase. When the share of firms reporting an increase exceeds the share of firms reporting a decrease, the index will be greater than zero, suggesting the indicator increased over the prior period. If the share of firms reporting a decrease exceeds the share reporting an increase, the index will be less than zero, suggesting the indicator has decreased over the prior period.

The indexes are not currently seasonally adjusted. The indexes that reflect how the indicators have changed from the same quarter a year ago are not likely subject to seasonal bias. The indexes covering changes from the prior quarter may exhibit seasonal patterns. Users should be cautioned that to the extent these patterns are important, this could lead to misinterpretations about what is driving changes in the indicators.