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I distinctly remember reading back in the day[0] the shale oil industry complaining how OPEC would drive up production with the sole intent of making shale oil

I distinctly remember reading back in the day[0] the shale oil industry complaining how OPEC would drive up production with the sole intent of making shale oil extraction too expensive and bankrupting companies. Apparently they went with the old "if you can't beat them, join them" defensive strategy. [0] https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/31/An-Analysis-of-OPECs-Strategic-Actions-US-Shale-Growth-and-the-2014-Oil-Price-Crash-44064 https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/31/An-... Took way too long to find that link, thanks google...

EasyMark 2y ago
A lot of the small outfits also went bankrupt and had to bail, leaving only the big players. It's much easier to cartel/collude when there are a lot fewer competitors. I think all the big guys got the message that slow and steady was the way to go, so they keep the prices high and simply don't pump more than they planned on. I saw one oil man on TV saying the days of razor-thin profit margins were over for his company and they were going to stick to their slow and steady strategy.