By sector

Energy & oil shares, explained

Energy companies find, produce and supply the oil, gas and power that everything else runs on. Many are long-standing dividend payers, which is why income-minded investors watch them closely.

Their profits ride the price of energy, which swings widely - so a high dividend yield here is a cyclical-industry yield, not a savings rate. The long-term shift away from fossil fuels is a genuine open question for the sector. Each name links to its explainer.

Why should I care?

Energy shares tempt beginners with big dividends - but those payouts ride a boom-and-bust commodity price, so understanding the cycle stops you mistaking a high yield for a reliable income.

How this list is put together

Every company in the Almanac that reports itself in the Energy sector, listed A to Z. The sector label is the company's own classification, not ours.

Of the 29 names here, 28 currently pay a dividend

97%

97% pay one3% do not

This is what the group looks like as a whole. Paying a dividend is a choice about what to do with profit, not a mark of quality - plenty of growing companies reinvest instead, and that says something about a company's stage rather than about how good it is.