Reuters: Statoil to hold back U.S. shale ramp up

Norwegian energy firm Statoil will only slightly raise its U.S. shale oil and gas output in the near term due to spending curbs, well below a potential for a 50 percent surge, the firm said on Monday.

Statoil, which produces around a tenth of its oil and gas from its U.S. shale operations in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Marcellus formations, has even cut back investments in the area, as shale projects are competing for capital within the company, said Torstein Hole, Statoil's chief for U.S. onshore activities.

Statoil abandoned its 2020 production target earlier this year and cut its capital spending budget, arguing that it needs to save cash and return more to shareholders after a decade of ramping up spending.

The firm increased shale production to around 210,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the middle of 2014 from close to nothing in 2010, but output levelled off in the second quarter.
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