The overwhelming majority of U.S. shale companies were hit hard due to lower oil prices in the first quarter of the year. Just about every shale company that I keep track of suffered negative free cash flows in Q1 2019. This was quite a surprise as Rystad Energy claimed that the breakeven price for U.S. tight oil (shale oil) was the second lowest in the world at $46 a barrel, right behind Saudi Arabia at $42. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), the average West Texas Oil price in Q1 2019 was $54.82, down from $60 in the last quarter of 2018. However, even with receiving nearly $55 a barrel, the majority of U.S. shale companies posted negative free cash flows. I was quite surprised when I researched the data. As we can see in the chart below, sixteen of the leading U.S. shale companies posted a […]