It may be too soon to assess the total impact of falling global crude oil prices on the US oil patch, but the lower price will likely slow the recent fast pace of pipeline buildouts and focus attention on regions where the production plays are most economic. Many oil industry analysts expect to see a slowdown in new midstream projects as production begins to wane, which is expected by the middle of 2015 as drilling slows and many of the hedges producers put in place to manage price risk expire. “In the midstream, in general, there will be some slowdown,” said John Hill, CEO of First Reserve, a global private equity investment firm exclusively focused on energy. Reductions in producer capital spending point to slowed drilling going forward, he said. But he notes there will be an “awful lot of Bakken” coming online […]