This time was supposed to be different. This year was supposed to be the year in which the U.S. shale industry proved that, after years of frustrating investors, they would finally start dishing out hefty returns after earning stacks of cash. The International Energy Agency said a few weeks ago that 2018 was shaping up to be a turning point. “Higher prices and operational improvements are putting the US shale sector on track to achieve positive free cash flow in 2018 for the first time ever,” the IEA said . The industry had succeeded in lower costs so much that they could turn a profit – the thinking goes – even with oil prices trading at around $50 per barrel. The rise in oil prices over the last year was supposed to be an unexpected bonus, definitively pushing drillers into profitable territory. But a new report from the Wall […]