Shale companies show signs of bowing to the low prices they helped inflict
New York — Oil’s bear market may finally be taking its toll on the shale boom. On Monday, hours after Halliburton warned that explorers are "tapping the brakes" on drilling, Anadarko Petroleum said it’s trimming spending in the first earnings report this quarter from a major shale producer. That could make this week a turning point for the troubled global oil market — the moment when shale companies showed signs of bowing to the low prices they helped inflict. The surge in US production this year has stymied efforts by oil cartel Opec and other major oil exporters to unwind a supply glut that’s weighed on the crude market for three years. Whether drillers have finally reached their limit may depend on how investors respond, said Mike Kelly, a Seaport Global Securities analyst in Houston. "If Wall Street rewards them for being more reserved with their activity levels and capital expenditures, then maybe it catches on," Kelly said in a telephone interview. If Anadarko shares suffer, o...
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