- Lower costs and improved productivity have enabled U.S. shale oil drillers to made major strides in adapting to lower crude prices, energy consultant Wood Mackenzie says.
- Shale drillers have cut the costs of producing new supplies of oil by as much as 40% in the past two years by pushing for lower rates from the companies that provide rigs, pipes and other services.
- Wood Mackenzie estimates that oil companies could make money in west Texas' Bone Spring and Wolfcamp tight oil plays with $37/bbl oil, the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas could turn a profit at $48/bbl, the average breakeven price in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale is $58/bbl, while breakeven at Oklahoma’s SCOOP region is $35/bbl.
- The report says the big winners will be incumbent operators in the key shale oil patches in the lower 48 U.S. states, such as in the Mid-Continent and Permian Basin, including U.S. independents such as EOG Resources (EOG -1.7%), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD -2.1%), Continental Resources (CLR -2.1%) and Apache (APA -1.9%), as well as oil giants Exxon Mobil (XOM -0.5%) and Chevron (CVX -0.2%).