Shale Oil Surge Still Hammering OPEC Push to Drain Glut
- Drillers hit highest output in decades; Conoco boosts spending
- U.S. drillers play the bogeyman to hopes of higher prices
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U.S. crude output skyrocketed to levels not seen in more than three decades, putting an exclamation point on OPEC’s forecast for untrammeled expansion in American shale fields.
The output surge and a surprise jump in U.S. crude stockpiles spooked the market Wednesday, dropping prices below $57 a barrel and spurring dire worries that the historic OPEC-led supply curbs set to expire in March may need to be sustained for an extended period to pierce the market glut.