U.S. oil production could become less responsive to crude prices as major oil companies expand operations in the nation’s shale fields, now dominated by smaller producers, International Energy Agency officials said at an industry summit on Monday. Forecasts by majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp for strong production growth in the Permian Basin, the nation’s largest oil field, signal a greater shift in U.S. shale output to the world’s oil majors, which could mean more stable U.S. output, said Toril Bosoni, a senior analyst at Paris-based IEA. “These major companies have longer-term strategic plans,” Bosoni said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. “Their balance sheets mean they can continue to invest even if prices fall, for a short period of time.” The […]