Shale Oil: Will It Burn Out?
Shale oil appears to be the place where cash goes to burn. For Q1'19, only 10% of shale companies have a positive balance from cash flow from operating activities. The current gap between capital expenditures and cash flows from operating activities is $4.7 billion, meaning that shale companies are spending a lot more than they are making.
There is speculation that the industry is frontloading production as they use more and more extravagant drilling techniques. Lateral lengths have increased 44% since 2012, and water used in the drilling