Oil producers in West Texas, defying expectations they would fall victim to OPEC’s price war, are instead selling investors on the idea that they can still profit with prices below $35 a barrel. Drillers in the Permian Basin, the biggest U.S. shale field, have raised at least $2 billion from share sales over the past eight weeks. And more issuances are on the way as producers try to avoid piling on additional debt. Pioneer Natural Resources Co.’s 12 million-share issuance on Jan. 5 was followed a week later by Diamondback Energy Inc.’s announcement of a 4 million-share sale. Private equity is getting in on the act, too — Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP is bankrolling a startup called Invictus Energy LLC with $150 million to drill the Permian and another Texas field known as the Eagle Ford Shale. Crude’s crash below $30 a barrel for the first time in […]