It would have been unthinkable a few months ago: ramping up production was the last thing U.S. shale drillers would do amid a hesitant price recovery and heavy uncertainty around demand recovery. In these few months, however, a lot has changed. Now, U.S. shale drillers may be ready to get back to drilling. The current situation in U.S. oil is one that shale companies must have dreamed about during the worst of the crisis. Inventories are down considerably, thanks to recovering demand. But they are also down due to the recent shut-ins of offshore production thanks to Hurricane Ida.
On top of that, the shale industry's own inventory of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) is also down considerably, Reuters has reported, citing analysts and industry insiders.
This means that soon, we could see a more sizeable increase in the U.S. rig count as shale producers seek to avert a decline in production. It also means that shale companies might see some renewed investor criticism because drilling more would require higher spending, and investors have been extra-sensitive towards spending recently.
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