WSJ Front-Page Op-Ed On Fracking In 2023 -- February 27, 2023

Link here.

Frackers are set to plow more cash into oil fields this year compared with last, but it isn’t expected to unleash the flood of crude that past spending binges in the shale patch have.

EOG Resources Inc. said it would spend about $1.4 billion more than last year, but that its oil production would rise by only about 3% in 2023. Pioneer Natural Resources Co. said it would augment its budget by nearly $1 billion, but its production would increase by less than 7% from 2022. And Marathon Oil Corp. MRO said that although its expenses would jump by up to 35%, its production would remain flat.

The disconnect between spending and production gains makes for a murky outlook for oil and gas producers in 2023, analysts said. It comes after many producers rode high oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to record profits in 2022, but suggests their ability to grow is limited.

"EOG Resources Inc. said it would spend about $1.4 billion more than last year, but that its oil production would rise by only about 3% in 2023."

• absolutely no analysis
• mixing CAPEX dollars with production change in percent;
• what percent does the CAPEX increase represent?
  
• how does the production increase translate to the bottom line in dollars?
• can companies execute their CAPEX plan with free cash flow while still paying regular dividends and variable dividends?
  

What if that 3% translates into $10 billion dropping to the bottom line versus the $1.4 billion allocated. LOL. Obviously that's hyperbole but again, without analysis using real numbers no one knows what $1.4 billion means and/or what a three percent increase in production means.

The rest of the article reads like an op-ed without any analysis. 

Devon says they can fund their 2023 program requiring no outside funding all the way to $40-WTI.

EOG's $1.4 billion CAPEX increase will likely pay for itself by the end of 2023.