Earlier this month, a senior executive from Pioneer Natural Resources predicted higher oil prices later this year. Demand for crude was rising strongly, executive VP Beth McDonald told Reuters last week, but supply was playing catch-up and without much enthusiasm. That there is a new normal in U.S. shale—the part of the oil industry that turned the country into the largest producer of the commodity—has been clear for a while now. Even with prices above $100 last year, U.S. shale drillers went about production growth cautiously.…
