U.S. shale drilling activity is set to slow this year as companies respond to lower oil prices. However, a lower WTI price is not the only reason for the deceleration. A series of lingering operational issues that have long been papered over by relentless drilling are starting to become increasingly apparent, while pressure from Wall Street is also forcing a reckoning. “We think perceptions of whether US supply growth is slowing or not will be the key driver of oil market sentiment in 2019,” Standard Chartered analysts wrote in a note. “In our view there is a large gap between the generally downbeat views of the US oil industry itself and its investors, and the upbeat tone of much media coverage and many analysts.” The investment bank expects non-OPEC supply growth is set to slow to just 1.518 million barrels per day (mb/d) this year and 0.754 mb/d in […]