Oil Drillers Say Scarce Steel a Reason for Flat U.S. Output

Add steel shortages to the growing list of reasons U.S. shale producers aren’t raising output as fast as needed amid a global energy crisis.

To drill more wells, they need steel tubes to line the inside of the holes and get the crude out. Those pipes have become more expensive and scarce. Oil and gas producers also have to boost wages to find and retain workers. They say those higher expenses, along with Biden administration’s tough environmental policy and investors’ pressure to keep costs under control, make them reluctant to ramp up production.