The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision Friday to keep pumping full blast in the face of low prices is bad news for independent oil companies: If OPEC won’t cut, they will have to. Oil companies large and small have struggled over the past year and a half as a glut of crude production spurred a slump in oil prices by some 60%. In past periods of weakening oil prices, OPEC has often acted to curb its own production to prop up prices, but for the past year the influential producer group has shifted tack. It is maintaining and even increasing production to go after market share rather than adjusting its output to balance supply and demand. The shift in OPEC’s strategy has been a painful experience for the industry, prolonging the supply glut and helping push prices to their lowest level since the financial crisis. The downturn […]