About half of U.S. energy company executives polled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas expect their firms to increase capital spending in 2021, and another quarter of respondents see those expenditures remaining flat next year, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The coronavirus health crisis wiped out as much as a third of global fuel demand and sent U.S. benchmark crude prices crashing in April, even ending one trading session in negative territory. Oil and gas companies slashed budgets and curtailed production. Oil prices are down 20% for the year but have recovered from the historic lows, strengthening spending plans for the bulk of the 146 energy firms surveyed. Of the executives polled from Dec. 9 to Dec. 17, two-thirds headed up exploration and production companies; the others were in oilfield services. About 25% of the respondents said they expected their firms to […]