Business & MarketsEnergy

Falling Crude Prices Slowing US Drilling Activity in Permian Shale Play

An expert says recent oil company spending cuts are a short- to mid-term response to global growth uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and investment shifts.
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Falling Crude Prices Slowing US Drilling Activity in Permian Shale Play
An oil well in the Permian Basin in Garden City, Texas, on Feb. 5, 2015. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Wesley Brown
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While consumers enjoy pump prices falling below $3 a gallon in several states, U.S. oil producers are increasingly concerned that declining crude prices will further slow domestic oil and gas production in the nation’s largest shale play in West Texas.

During the company’s quarterly conference call on May 8, Occidental Petroleum Co., a top producer in the Permian Basin, joined other top U.S. companies in warning that the prodigious West Texas liquids-rich development could be headed for a reset as crude prices approach the breakeven level.

Wesley Brown
Wesley Brown
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Wesley Brown is a long-time business and public policy reporter based in Arkansas. He has written for many print and digital publications across the country.