I was interviewed today by CNNMoney’s Matt Egan on what OPEC should expect from US shale as they hold their 169th “Ordinary Meeting” in Vienna tomorrow (2 June). Indeed, at some point oil production and demand will balance (likely in 2017), and then the Saudis and OPEC will have to cautiously test the presently unknown dynamics of high-tech US shale on the rebound. -Egan cites my point of view in his article. Read on … – Tom O’D.
Don’t bet against the resilience of U.S. oil companies
by Matt Egan @mattmegan5 CNNMoney (New York) June 1, 2016: 12:23 PM ET
Many expected U.S. oil output would collapse under the weight of a lengthy price war with the mighty OPEC, the fractured oil cartel that’s meeting in Vienna Thursday.
The U.S. oil boom, fueled by the shale revolution, has obviously taken a few punches from OPEC’s strategy of all-out pumping. But the latest numbers show that American production continues to remain stubbornly high in recent months despite the crash in crude to as low as $26 a barrel in February.
The U.S. pumped 9.13 million barrels per day in March, down by a miniscule 6,000 barrels from the prior month, according to stats released this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That represents a deceleration from recent monthly declines. By comparison, daily U.S. output dropped by 58,000 barrels in February and by 83,000 barrels in December.
The Global Barrel 