FRACKING: JUST HOW PROFITABLE IS IT?

In 2014, I published a piece on the break-even price of Fracking.*  Since this is now 5 yrs later, I thought an update would be in order.  For example, has Fracking become more efficient and thus lowered costs?

I have found an article that lists only 7 of 29 Fracking companies with positive free cash flow in 2018.**   EOG Resources is the only one with a free cash flow of over a billion dollars.  Adding all the free cash flow of the 27 companies together, the group had a loss (i.e. negative) free cash flow of  $6,690 million.

It seems to be the case that, since the production from Fracking is increasing, the companies are trying to make up their losses by the old joke of selling more oil and gas (at a loss).

It is a very interesting article and I recommend reading the whole thing.**

Note added April 19, 2019:  “The U.S. oil price needed for shale oil to be profitable is around $53 a barrel or above,” said Roy Martin, an analyst at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. According to Barclays , a price of $60 is needed to sustain growth in excess of 0.5 million barrels a day.

(Click on figure to enlarge)
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/opec-vs-shale-the-battle-for-oil-price-supremacy-11555588826?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=7)

* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/10/break-even-price-of-fracking-oil.html
** http://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Q4-2018_More-Red-Flags-on-Fracking_March-2019.pdf