With the prospect of another plunge in crude prices CLc1LCOc1 looming after two months of stability, U.S. shale oil producers may face another round of spending cuts to conserve cash and survive the downturn. A deeper retrenchment would have far-reaching effects. Additional cutbacks would further gut the already-hemorrhaging oilfield services industry and may heighten expectations for a steeper drop in U.S. crude output later this year. They would also reinforce the United States’ emerging role as the world’s “swing producer,” with dozens of independent companies that can quickly ramp up production in good times and dial it back in a downturn. “If I were an oil company today, I would talk about one thing: how far can you cut costs,” said Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer in New York. “They cannot control anything else.” Gheit said he expected a new wave of capital […]