Prudence will be the new normal for the U.S. shale oil industry, which has quickly abandoned its heavy-spending ways in the face of sliding crude prices, Schlumberger Ltd, the world’s No.1 oilfield services provider, said on Monday. Spending cuts already announced by producers – to the tune of 25 to 60 percent – have dropped the rig count by 45 percent since late 2014, and output will soon decline or flatten out so prices can recover, Schlumberger’s Chief Executive Paal Kibsgaard said. U.S. oil prices have fallen by 50 percent since June to around $46 per barrel as Saudi Arabia and OPEC try to push higher cost producers out of the market. At the time of $100 oil, some U.S. highly-leveraged U.S. players were […]