The U.S. Shale Patch Is Facing A Plethora Of Problems

There is a fairly blithe assumption in government circles that shale production can be raised at will. That assumption is about to be put to the test as the American shale drilling and fracking industry attempts to respond to the entreaties and outright demands of legislators, members of the administrative branch’s leadership, and even the president himself to put more capital toward increasing production.

This is happening, but at a level and rate that will be insufficient to boost production significantly. In fact, data from the most recent…