The notion that large and diversified companies fare better in a downturn has been soundly discredited by the financial crisis. While the consequences have been far less dramatic for oil and gas supermajors than for financial supermarkets, their broad geographic reach and involvement in every aspect of energy from exploration to fuel retail has been no saving grace – every link in the chain is weak.

There is more than one way to buck the economic cycle though. Crude is $100 a barrel below its July peak and downstream margins have been pinched too, so it is hardly astonishing that BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are all freezing or cutting capital expenditures this year. The surprise is that ExxonMobil, the fifth and largest supermajor, will spend 11.1 per cent more. It is also considering acquisitions. This suggests that it was not being overly conservative, as some critics charged, during the boom – just frugal.