Crude oil prices opened 2015 down on word Chinese factory activity was slowing, while U.S. data show few signs of a slowdown in the shale oil boom. The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was down more than 1.4 percent in early trading Friday, the first full trading day of 2015. Oil has been trading in a bear market since June as markets swing to the supply side because of a weak global economy. WTI prices are at the point where some companies working in the shale oil sector of the United States may have trouble generating a profit. In a New Year’s Eve report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found production declined only in Alaska for the week ending Dec. […]