Commodities
Private Shale Drillers Set to Cut Spending After Boom in 2023
A gas flare burns past a pump jack in the Permian Basin area of Loving County, Texas.
Photographer: Angus Mordant/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Closely held explorers, once the engine to the Permian’s shale growth coming out of the pandemic, are now expected to lead US oil explorers into spending contraction next year.
Private oil and natural gas explorers are projected to cut their budgets by 4% to an average of $34.4 billion in 2024, according to the 39th annual global spending survey from Barclays PLC. The contraction, the biggest forecast among North American companies, comes after the private drillers increased expenditures by 15% this year.