U.S shale oil production will flatten and slightly decline in the second quarter of 2015 as companies cut their capital spending to cope with lower oil prices, energy consultancy PIRA said on Tuesday. Crude oil prices have roughly halved since June last year due to a supply glut and weak demand. There has been a drop off in the number of drilling rigs in the U.S. in recent weeks but stocks have continued to rise to record levels. [EIA/S] “The effect of falling prices rippled throughout the production chain, both on an operational and a financial level,” PIRA said in a note. “For the companies covered, capex guidance for 2015 was 35 percent lower than 2014 capex on average.” Last week, a monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said that U.S. oil output would decline in late 2015. U.S. oil companies […]