U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum speak with members of the media outside of the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 19, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he is not worried about falling oil prices and their impact on America’s shale oil industry, stressing that the coming years would be a time of energy abundance for the world’s largest economy.
“The U.S. shale industry is going to is going to survive and thrive,” Wright said in an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy in the United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi. “But of course,” he added, “investment decisions are going to be tailored if prices stay long for stay this low for a long period of time. But I’m quite bullish on the U.S. industry.”
Oil prices have come under pressure amid lower global demand, mounting uncertainty over tariffs, and greater supply on the market from both OPEC and non-OPEC countries — with lower revenues threatening the viability of shale producers.
The June expiry contract of global benchmark Brent crude was trading at $63.51 per barrel on Friday at 1:43 p.m. in London, up 0.28% from the Thursday settlement. The front-month May U.S. WTI contract was at $60.26 per barrel, higher by 0.32% from the previous day’s close price. Both contracts are down roughly 22% in the last year.
To make his point, Wright referenced the 2014 to 2016 period, during which a boom in shale production coincided with lower global demand and brought oil prices down 70%. The industry was forced to grapple with a tidal wave of bankruptcies.
But the energy secretary took an optimistic angle. “In 2015 and 2016 oil prices twice hit $28 [per barrel], and what happened? What did the U.S. shale industry do in that time — innovate, get smarter, drive their costs down, and that’s what’s happening right now,” Wright said.
Commodities analysts estimate that U.S. crude needs to stay above $65 per barrel to keep shale producers in business. Goldman Sachs this week lowered its oil price forecast for U.S. WTI to $58 per barrel by December 2025 and $51 per barrel by December 2026, down from a previous outlook of $66 per barrel this year and $59 per barrel in 2026.
This developing story is being updated.