Oil majors have long been passive watchers of the pump war between OPEC and U.S. shale producers, but not any more. Majors were unable to grow output for the past decade even as oil prices soared above $100 per barrel due bad capital discipline and huge project delays. The oil price slump since 2014 has prompted the world’s biggest oil firms to drastically cut costs but also to force contractors to make projects more efficient and extract the same amount of barrels for fewer dollars. As a result, most majors are now planning exceptionally strong production growth until at least 2021, a Reuters analysis of the latest investor presentation and corporate plans showed. Even as prices hold near $50 per barrel, the firms – Royal Dutch/Shell ( RDSa.L ), ExxonMobil ( XOM.N […]