The Market, Energy, And Political Page, Part 2, T+36 -- December 11, 2018 -- Shale Story Staggering

Wow, this is quite a story, from Bloomberg: US shale becomes oil industry's safe haven. I haven't read the article yet. Let's read it together. I'm curious if Bloomberg uses the new "catch phrase" for US shale: "short-cycle projects." Perhaps coined by Chevron?

From the linked article:

Big Oil is investing more in U.S. shale, not less, after the recent tumble in crude prices.
It’s a far cry from four years ago when OPEC declared war on American shale areas, which at the time had some of the highest costs anywhere in the world and were often the first on the chopping block during tough times.

The cost of shale production has fallen so much since then that it’s becoming a safe haven for major oil companies in times of volatile prices, providing rapid, reliable growth and quick returns even with crude trading for just over $50 a barrel, down by almost a third since the start of October.

The U.S. shale sector has helped boost American production to an average of 10.9 million barrels a day this year, the most on record. Output is forecast to grow a further 11 percent next year, according the Energy Information Administration.

ConocoPhillips said Monday it’s spending half its 2019 budget in the continental U.S., while Chevron Corp. is investing more at home than it’s done for more than a decade, with $3.6 billion going to the Permian Basin alone. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Hess Corp., both global operators, plan to increase spending on their American assets more than 40 percent.

So, far, "short-cycle' has not been used.

From Conoco's CEO:

Production growth “slows down at $50 but I don’t think it stops at $50, and it certainly continues if prices get back to $60,” Lance said. Skeptics thought shale “wouldn’t last long, but it’s here, it’s a huge resource and it’s going to be resilient and long lasting.”

Conoco alone will increase its shale production 25 percent next year, Lance said. That’s on top of growth of about 35 percent expected this year. The shale revolution is having a bigger impact on energy markets than the development of offshore production in the 1960s, he said.

Short-cycle? From Bloomberg, previously posted:

[Chevron's] Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth’s decision to raise spending while oil is in free fall shows how the industry has become more comfortable operating at lower prices after cutting costs and shunning complex projects in recent years. But in March he pledged to keep annual budgets at no more than $20 billion for the next three years, about half the amount earmarked for 2014 when the company was overspending on gas projects in Australia.

“Our investments are anchored in high-return, short-cycle projects, with more than two-thirds of spend projected to realize cash flow within two years,” Wirth said in the statement.