U.S. shale producers are expected to generate a combined $30 billion in free cash flow in 2021 amid disciplined capital spending and higher oil prices, estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence show. This year, shale producers continue to adhere to disciplined spending and is not reinvesting in new drilling more than the cash flows it earns. That’s a U-turn from past boom and bust cycles where the U.S. shale patch loaded up on debt to drill and produce as much oil as possible, contributing to sinking oil prices. After the 2015-2016 downturn, back in 2017, even Harold Hamm warned his fellow oil and gas producers to be careful as “drillers don’t want to drill themselves into oblivion.” The pandemic last year started what analysts have begun to call “a new era” for U.S. shale where returns to shareholders and paying down debts take precedence over production growth and record output. The […]