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My emphasis.The US producers are producing more than ever, well over 10 Mbbl/d. Most of it is from fracked shale wells, the boogeyman of the squady left.Or US producers willing to fill that gap.
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And they did swoop in. US increased oil production quite a bit since 5 years ago, only broken by the 2020 COVID collapse in demand.Some five years ago, "Wall St experts" were squeaking about how anything over $50 a barrel and US producers would swoop in. Now all I'm hearing is investors want US oil producers to "maintain capital discipline".
But that also means that the most profitable plays are already producing and marginal cost for every additional bbl/d of production gets more and more expensive.
Add to that an administration that is not exactly friendly to oil and gas industries, and esp. fracking without which we could not be producing even half of the oil and gas we are producing. Note that it was Biden's former boss who, for purely political reasons, cancelled Dakota Access Pipeline permit after 95% of the pipeline had been completed already. What will Biden do when the next pipeline for fracked oil or gas is needed? He already killed Keystone XL, so we know he is not too pipeline friendly.
Believe it or not, oil companies are businesses, not charities. They are seeking profit in an uncertain political landscape. Biden is under a lot of pressure from his left flank to be even less friendly to oil and gas companies. Some on his left are demanding he kill DAPL even though it has successfully transported half a million bbl/d of light sweet crude for five years.I've got another term for "maintaining capital discipline".
Nevertheless, fossil fuel companies greatly expanded US oil and gas production over the last 10-15 years thanks to the shale revolution/fracking. But that also means that the most easily accessible plays are already tapped in order to get to quite impressive ~12 Mbbl/d. Increasing it from that level is not easy, or cheap.
Swoop? You call this swooping? They swooped 2013-2020 when the price was bouncing around $50 a barrel. They've come back in something far short of swooping since 2020 while the price doubled.
I'll stand on the original articles I posted regarding investors pressing for less investment and more return. So the investors make hay and the rest of the country suffers for it, especially those who can least afford it. What is happening in the oil markets today is the poster child for why our capitalism run amok system does not work.