OPEC Expands Control Of Oil Markets As Shale Growth Stalls

After a decade of exponential growth, the U.S. shale patch is no longer the swing producer on the global markets. That role is now back in the hands of OPEC and its largest and most influential members in the Middle East, analysts and industry executives say.  From growth of over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil production annually before the pandemic hit demand in 2020, the United States is now set to see the growth rate at half of that, at best, this year. Although most of the growth comes and will come from the shale patch, the pace…