The fall in oil prices affects the plans of the American oil producers who recently were going to drill new wells and expend their production. Oilmen from North Dakota to Texas have to refuse from an increase in production capacity and displace some projects. For example, one of the biggest petroleum liquids producers Continental Resources that works at the Bakken formation said that the company was not going to drill extra wells next year. ConocoPhillips Co. announced that “next year's budget would fall below the $16 billion spent this year”; and due to this reason the company rejects drilling new wells in the Niobrara Shale formation in Colorado. Pioneer Natural resources Co. will not deliver extra drilling devices to Texas if the oil price does not rise. “We're in a battle with Saudi Arabia in regard to market share versus U.S. shale oil,” Scott Sheffield, chairman and chief executive officer of Pioneer, said. However, despite the statement, analysts are quite sure that the fall in oil prices has a positive impact – in the developed countries, at least. For example, the American consumer will save more than 70 billion next year because petrol and diesel prices will drop and, therefore, stimulate consumer spending. Besides, the drilling efficiency of new wells was calculated according to the price of $60 a barrel. It is noteworthy that the American energy companies suffered from their own success: they produce larger amounts of oil and gas with the help of fewer drilling units, but they drill and close wells faster than few years ago.
