Why U.S. Shale Is Right To Choose Shareholders Over Production

American shale producers are right to avoid the temptation of pumping oil with WTI in the $1100-$110 range. Rewarding shareholders isn’t just about appeasement, which is long overdue, it’s about the elephant in the oil production room: Refining capacity.  Refining capacity was falling even before the pandemic. Since January 2020, we’ve lost 3 million bpd in refining capacity, worldwide. In 2020, we lost 410,000 bpd in net global refining capacity. In 2021, there were more refinery closures than there was new capacity, leading…