The US shale industry has adjusted well to the WTI oil price corridor of $ 55-60 per barrel.
Aggregate net losses of US shale oil producers in Q4 2020 decreased to $ 4 billion from $ 6 billion in the previous three months and from $ 18 billion in Q2. EBITDA recovered to $ 7 billion from $ 6.5 billion in the previous quarter. The leading operators of the Permian Basin, according to Rystad Energy, showed an increase in EBITDA of 20-30% over the last three months of the year compared to the previous quarter. Rystad Energy reports the second highest free cash flow in the history of the shale industry at $ 2.8 billion.
However, in general, the US shale sector plans unchanged capex in 2021. This means an approximate stabilization of the production volume (more likely -100 thousand barrels per day by the end of the year) and the desire of oil workers to simply pay off their debts and expect a more significant increase in oil prices.