A recurrent theme on the blog -- remember, I'm inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken -- is that operators rushing into the Permian may have bitten off more than they can chew; and, a corollary, the Bakken is looking pretty good.
Keeping that in mind, this is an interesting analysis from Rystad via oilprice:
The U.S. shale industry is gearing up to spend more this year, despite assurances to maintain capital discipline.
In the second quarter, shale companies signaled their intention to lift capex. Part of the reason is that costs are on the rise, so some drillers have to spend more to produce the same amount of oil and gas. That was an unexpected development, and one that shareholders are not happy about.
A survey of 33 shale companies by Rystad Energy found that while the group revised up spending by about 8 percent, they only increased their expected production levels for this year by 1.4 percent. “This disconnect might suggest that the shale industry requires more capital than before to achieve healthy production growth,” Rystad said in a new report.
