More than ever before, U.S. shale producers are becoming the victims of outdated restrictions on the export of crude oil from the United States. Export controls have ensured the most oversupplied part of the global oil market is at home in the United States. The main beneficiaries are rival producers in the Middle East and elsewhere able to obtain higher international prices thanks to the export ban. U.S. shale producers have received almost no benefit from the improvement in international oil prices since the middle of January. Benchmark Brent prices have risen around $16 per barrel since hitting their recent low on Jan 13. But prices for shale producers are tied to the domestic marker WTI which has risen by only $4 per barrel over the same period ( link.reuters.com/buv24w ). In the middle of January, posted prices for shale producers in Texas and North Dakota […]