Oil rig Although OPEC’s decision to take 1.2 million bpd off the market as of January is undoubtedly good news for the U.S. shale patch, companies would likely wait to see if oil prices would materially stabilize next year before resuming en-masse drilling, analysts polled by Platts reckon. “The OPEC deal puts a fairly strong floor in $40s instead of leaving a trap door in the $30s without a deal,” according to Fred Lawrence, vice president for economics for the Independent Petroleum Association of America. U.S. drillers would continue to reign in capital spending next year and prepare for higher prices, which they expect in 2018, Lawrence said. In addition, OPEC is likely to closely watch U.S. companies as they increase spending and add rigs in the first months of 2017 before deciding at its May meeting whether to extend the cuts past the initial six months, the analyst […]