U.S. oil and gas boom tamed by sharply lower prices: Kemp - Reuters

U.S. oil and gas boom tamed by sharply lower prices: Kemp - Reuters:

U.S. oil and gas production growth is slowing, as lower prices force shale firms to reduce new well drilling and completion rates, and the slowdown is set to intensify this year.

Low prices and the need to conserve cash, rather than a sudden conversion to the merits of investment discipline, have brought the drilling and production boom of 2017/18 to a halt.

U.S. crude oil output was up almost 9% in the three months between August and October compared with the same period in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But the annual growth rate had already slowed from a peak of more than 21% in August-October 2018 compared with the same period in 2017 (“Petroleum supply monthly,”, EIA, Dec. 31).