Shale Consolidation Could Reverse Output Growth Trend

Mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. shale oil and gas space could lead to a decline in production, industry executives said in the latest edition of the Dallas Fed Energy Survey. The decline, according to survey respondents, would not be especially pronounced. Yet it would still be a reversal of a trend that most observers of the U.S. oil industry consider irreversible and consistent over the long term in the absence of constraining policies. Consolidation by E&P firms has curtailed investment in exploration. “Our hope is that…