Big public shale drillers aren’t rushing to boost production following the pandemic. Small, privately held shale drillers are increasingly drilling activity as they see a chance to significantly ramp up cash flow. Pioneer CEO Sheffield: “Whether it’s $150 oil, $200 oil, or $100 oil, we’re not going to change our growth plans,”. When rebounding oil demand began pushing benchmarks higher last year, forecasters and traders alike watched the U.S. shale patch with bated breath to see when drillers would start drilling again. Most didn’t. The ones that did were the smaller, privately held players. Public shale companies suffered a serious blow from the pandemic when growing shareholder disgruntlement combined with the unprecedented destruction of demand for oil to pressure them into a rearrangement of priorities, to which these companies appear to have stuck despite the price rise. Majors such as Pioneer Natural Resources, Devon Energy, and Diamondback Energy have […]