Concern about a seismic change in the U.S. shale industry with shareholder returns prioritized over spending on production has plagued analyst and banker circles for over a year. Indeed, shale producers have become much more careful with their money, preferring to focus on shareholders over production even when prices rebounded after the pandemic lockdowns and the industry enjoyed windfall profits. Yet despite this reprioritization, companies in the shale patch did increase their spending on production, Rystad Energy said in a new report this…
