OPEC said Monday the U.S. oil boom could be over by the end of this year, offering a pessimistic view of American producers’ ability to withstand a historic collapse in crude prices and predicting that global petroleum supplies would realign with demand. The cartel, in its closely watched monthly oil-market report, cited spending cuts by U.S. producers and the falling number of American rigs drilling for oil in recent months after crude prices fell by about 60% from last summer to January before rallying in February. For instance, rig counts fell faster in February than they did in January, according to the latest Baker Hughes report. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries report comes when oil markets are at a crossroads and demonstrates the uncertainty over the staying power of the American oil boom. Just last week, the International Energy Agency said that American producers were defying expectations […]