据油价网5月5日报道，美国能源信息管理署（EIA）周四表示，美国公共石油生产商的运营现金总额在2021年第四季度达到275亿美元，是自2014年第三季度以来最大的季度金额。
去年下半年原油价格的上涨，帮助EIA分析的42家上市石油公司大幅增加了运营现金和资本支出。根据EIA对42家公共石油生产商公布的财务报告的分析，2021年第四季度，这些公司的资本支出同比增长60%，达到150亿美元。
尽管第四季度资本支出增加，但原油产量仍比疫情开始前的创纪录水平低10%。
美国西得克萨斯中质油(WTI)在2021年第四季度的平均价格为每桶77美元，比2020年同期上涨了82%。然而，EIA表示，产量并没有随着油价的大幅上涨而增长，并指出钻机和钻井人员的短缺是钻井活动未能实现大幅增加的两个制约因素。
此外，美国生产商专注于完成已钻未完井(DUCs)，这导致自2014年5月以来，美国产油区在2022年3月的DUCs数量最少。
新井的钻探需要更多的资本支出，需要雇佣钻井人员和服务供应商，目前页岩领域的瓶颈导致此类人员供应短缺。因此，美国致密油产量的增长速度不像之前的上升周期那样快，而且肯定不像政府希望降低美国8年来最高的汽油价格那样快。
所有预测都表明，美国今年的石油产量将高于2021年，但增长速度可能低于几个月前的预期。行业高管表示，最大页岩油公司的资本支出纪律、供应链瓶颈和劳动力短缺将限制美国石油产量的增长。
季廷伟 摘译自 油价网
原文如下：
U.S. Oil Firms Generate Highest Cash Flows Since 2014
U.S. public oil producers saw their combined cash from operations hit $27.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, the largest quarterly figure since the third quarter of 2014, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.
The rising crude oil prices in the latter part of last year helped the 42 listed oil firms that the EIA included in its analysis to significantly increase cash from operations, as well as capital expenditures. Capex at the companies jumped by 60% quarter over quarter to $15 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to EIA’s analysis of the published financial reports of 42 public oil producers.
Despite the higher capex in Q4, crude oil production was still trending 10% below the record levels seen just before the start of the pandemic.
WTI Crude prices averaged $77 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2021, up by 82% compared with the same quarter of 2020. Production, however, has not grown in response to the much higher oil prices, the EIA said, noting that a shortage of rigs and crews to bring wells online were two of the constraints to a significant increase in drilling activity.
In addition, U.S. producers focused on completing drilled-but-uncompleted wells (DUCs), which resulted in the fewest number of DUCs in the U.S. oil-producing regions in March 2022 since May 2014.
The drilling of new wells needs more capital expenditure and hiring rig crews and services providers that are currently in short supply amid bottlenecks in the shale patch. As a result, U.S. tight oil production is not rising as fast as in previous upcycles, and surely not as quick as the Biden Administration wants as it looks to lower the highest gasoline prices in America in eight years.
All forecasts point to U.S. oil production rising this year compared to 2021, but growth will likely happen at a slower pace than expected a few months ago. Capex discipline from the largest shale firms, supply chain bottlenecks, and labor shortages will cap U.S. oil production growth, industry executives say.
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