How Hard Did The Texas Freeze Hit U.S. Shale Production?

U.S. shale oil production in the first quarter will be lower than previously expected because of the sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms that put Texas in the spotlight last week and pushed oil prices higher. Reuters cites several shale oil producers, including Occidental and Diamondback Energy, which expect a slow recovery in production as frozen pipelines and well equipment removed some 2 million bpd from the U.S. total. What’s more, some of the lost production may never return because it would be too expensive to restart some smaller…