Shale R&D cuts cast shadow on future of US oil production
Shale technology advances that propelled the U.S. to the top global oil producer spot with world-beating growth rates are falling fewer and farther between as drilling budgets shrink and with them, the research and development that might deliver the next great leap. Inventions, such as directional drilling and hydraulic fracking, spurred U.S. oil production to the world’s highest in 2018, and boosted its shale production to over 8 million barrels per day last year, from 2.6 million bpd a decade earlier. Output gains, however, have dwindled as tight-fisted producers spend ...
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