Crude oil markets are coming back into “better balance” as supplies are cut back in response to lower prices, Chevron Chief Executive Officer and Chairman John Watson said Tuesday. The oil industry in early 2015 responded to lower revenue by reducing spending on long-cycle projects, Watson told journalists on the sidelines of the LNG 18 conference in Perth, Western Australia. “Now we’re seeing reductions in spending on shorter cycle projects, in other words immediate drilling activity,” Watson said. “Rig rates in the US are down almost 80%, we’re seeing decline in rig rates around the world and we’re starting to see the supply response that everyone has expected. So we’re seeing the markets come back into better balance [but] it may take more time.” Watson declined to make any forecasts, but the oil prices seen over the last year would “not underpin very much activity,” he stressed. “So I […]