Opec

The secretary general of the Organization for the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is calling on U.S. unconventional producers to help reduce the global oil surplus.

The opportunities for U.S. onshore explorers and the oilfield service sector are becoming more concentrated as efficiencies continue to improve, more projects start up and the potential for rising overseas capacity awaits, reducing the call on unconventional supply growth beyond 2018, according to analysts.

The global oil glut, created in part by surging U.S. unconventional production, has again forced the hand of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which on Thursday agreed to extend supply reductions for another nine months beginning July 1.

Rebalancing the global oil glut is going to take more than a temporary pullback by the world’s largest producers because U.S. unconventional production is overwhelming any shortfall and coming back faster than anticipated, the International Energy Agency said.

North Dakota’s latest production statistics released Friday show the state is maintaining its 1 million b/d rate for oil production, but state officials are concerned about developments at OPEC and in Washington, DC, that could adversely impact production levels.

U.S. producers, eager to get rigs back to work in the Lower 48, may be the drag on strengthening oil prices after global output increased to 9 million b/d in March from a trough of 8.6 million b/d last September, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday.

Following a two-year oil price war that sharply disrupted global output and bankrupted dozens of North American operators, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister warned Tuesday that the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to temporarily reduce output doesn’t mean a free ride for anybody.

With oil and natural gas prices rising and rigs coming off the stacks, the U.S. energy sector is poised for a comeback of sorts in 2017, but operators still face headwinds that may hinder growth.

Energy stocks were rising with oil prices after countries closely aligned with the Saudi Arabian-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including Russia, signaled on Saturday they would reduce their production for at least six months beginning Jan. 1. However, the U.S. response may already be underway, as rigs rise in the onshore.