OPEC, for some quiet moments..

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Estimated natural gas well completions decreased 70% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to year-ago levels, according to API's 2016 Quarterly Well Completion Report, First Quarter.

API: Oil and natural gas exploratory drilling down in first quarter

The reason that U.S. oil production has not fallen more is remarkable efficiency gains. Occidental Petroleum described a series of measures they have taken that have reduced the time it takes to complete a well by up to 50%, which could enable it to drill the same number of wells each month using half the number of rigs. Other innovations are allowing much more oil to be produced from each completed well. Decker, Flaaen, and Tito (2016) note that the average new well in the Bakken produced 200 barrels/day in 2007. Last year the number was 400 b/d. However, it remains true as ever that production from an average new well will have fallen off by half within a year of operation.

Productivity gains in U.S. shale oil | Econbrowser

The table below reports operating income for five of the most important companies in the shale oil boom, which between them produced almost a million barrels a day in 2014. Between them they lost $32 billion in 2015, a year when the average price of WTI was $49/barrel. So far in 2016 we’ve averaged $33/barrel. Despite ongoing productivity gains and cost savings, a significant fraction of current world oil production cannot be sustained at current prices.

Productivity gains in U.S. shale oil | Econbrowser

Oil climbed after U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly dropped from the highest level in more than eight decades. Futures rose the most in three weeks in New York. Crude supplies fell 4.94 MMbbl last week, Energy Information Administration data show. A 2.85 MMbbl gain was projected in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Refineries processed the most crude in three months as output and imports slipped. Diesel led gains after the report showed stockpiles of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, tumbled on the East Coast.

Oil surges as crude supply unexpectedly drops from 86-year high