U.S. oil producers profiting from sky-high prices are doling out billions to shareholders and building cash reserves, a strategy irking lawmakers and voters struggling with record fuel prices while winning over Wall Street. Soaring fuel prices have boosted inflation to a 40-year record and are expected to drive up U.S. gasoline by more than a dollar to $6 a gallon by August. That prospect has some officials arguing the industry’s focus on returns is benefiting a few at the expense of consumers. The tradeoff between rising payouts for just a single quarter and more spending on production has deprived the market of nearly half a million barrels of new oil daily, based on Reuters’ estimates of potential output if half of existing investor payouts flowed to new oil and gas drilling. Earnings from major U.S. shale, which accounts for two-thirds of U.S. oil output, could […]