U.S. Shale Majors Cut Spending Despite Higher Oil Prices

U.S. oil companies dominating the shale patch are planning to trim their spending plans and instead take advantage of higher international oil prices to reduce debt and boost shareholder returns. This is bad news for production growth. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that all the big names in shale had reduced their spending over the first six months of the year. Chevron and ConocoPhillips spent 10% less in the period while Occidental slashed its spending on operations in the Permian by as much as a fifth over the first half of the year.…