OPEC+ Meeting Delay Is A Nervous Moment For U.S. Shale Business

OPEC+ Meeting Delay Is A Nervous Moment For U.S. Shale Business

The U.S. oil business has bigger potential problems than Joe Biden's promised fracking ban. There is no doubt that the Biden/Harris promise to ban hydraulic fracturing on federal lands and waters would severely hamper the nation's oil and gas business sector.

In addition to curtailing about 20% of U.S. oil production that comes from federal leases, such a move would cause capital flight away from oil projects in the U.S., regardless of land type since it would send a signal that government policy in a Biden administration would present a high degree of risk and uncertainty. This is an outcome an already capital-strapped industry can ill-afford.

But as impactful as that potential problem would be, U.S. oil and gas producers face an even larger looming headache this morning: Uncertainty about the continuation of the OPEC+ agreement, the deal among large oil producing countries