Crude oil last week dived below $40 as the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Europe prompted new national lockdowns in France and Germany—so far. Yet fears have deepened that more countries could follow. Lockdowns are not good for oil demand. And they are just one aspect of the pandemic that is changing the oil industry landscape. The United States has not reinstated lockdowns and is quite unlikely to do it. Yet people’s behaviors are changing because of the pandemic, and some of these new behaviors may be here to stay, with their effect on crude oil fundamentals becoming long-term. How will the U.S. oil industry look a year from now? Fewer and even leaner The consolidation many expected has finally started, driven in part by the logic-based optimism that prices will have to sooner or later start recovering, and in part by political concerns. The potential change in administration […]