BIG IS BEAUTIFUL

摘要

The operating rig count in the United States and Canada, as of April 9, was 637 units, down 41.5 percent from that of April 12, 2019. Publicly traded energy majors and their suppliers were pulling their previously issued first-quarter financial guidance during the second week of April. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose during that same week, compared to a week earlier, then plunged into negative territory. Boom and bust cycles in the oil patch are nothing new. Steel suppliers can recall the 1973 oil embargo, growth in the 1980s followed by a recession, a boom in the '90s followed by the tragedy of 9/11, the growth of fracking and horizontal drilling opening up American reserves, then the Great Recession. Now there is a price war between OPEC and Russia.