It may well be the case that the U.S. shale sector has cut over US$50 billion from its planned spending this year, the number of operating rigs has fallen by 40 per cent in the past four weeks, and output has fallen by nearly one million barrels per day (bpd) over the same period. It is equally true, though, that what all these reports overlook is that the shale oil (and gas) sector is too important from a geopolitical and economic perspective to the world standing of the U.S. for it to be allowed to fail, and all other considerations are secondary. In reality, the U.S. shale sector is set to emerge stronger, and earlier, than the vast majority of people think. Ever since the 1973 Oil Crisis – when Saudi Arabia pressured OPEC members plus Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia to embargo oil exports to the U.S. (and the […]