Falling oil prices which started in late 2014 have highlighted an increased emphasis on the cost of producing oil, particularly from shale oil formations in the U.S. With 50 percent of U.S. oil production coming from U.S. shale, analysts initially estimated breakeven prices for shale oil operations to be at $75 per barrel, then lowering those estimates to $50 per barrel, and now, in some core regions, breakeven prices are as low as $30-$35 per barrel. The reason U.S. shale continues to see lower breakeven prices is because companies in the U.S. continue to innovate shale drilling techniques and technology. Similarly, Canadian shale drilling continues to improve alongside that of the U.S., and Canada has implemented similar technological progress towards the extraction and refining of oil from its oil sands. This continued U.S. improvement in oil and gas drilling, extraction, and refining technology provides for the hypothesis […]