Oil bulls can’t catch a break. The long-awaited decline in U.S. oil output has begun, data show, but many investors and analysts are still waiting for prices to stage a sustained recovery. The rapid growth in America’s production over the past several years was a major driver behind the plunge in the benchmark U.S. oil price, which is down 53% from a year ago. Once that output slowed, oil would bounce back, bullish investors reasoned. But their hopes have been thwarted by robust output from other parts of the world, from Russia to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, that has kept a lid on prices. “We now know that the U.S. [production] is in decline,” said Eric Nuttall, portfolio manager at Sprott Asset Management, which manages about $5.8 billion. “I would have thought [prices] would be higher, with the data points, but maybe people need another month or two” of […]