Drought may spur a drop in oil production

The booming oil and natural gas fields might be stifled by an oppressive drought that’s restricting access to water and pitting the energy sector against farmers and homeowners. According to a CNNMoney story, Neal Dingmann, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Houston, said drilling could decline by 5 percent in small- to mid-size companies due to drought conditions. More than 60 percent of the United States is suffering from drought conditions, and as a result, farmers are turning down contracts to sell water and restricting energy companies’ access to it. “We’re having difficulty acquiring water,” Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling Oil and Gas, told CNNMoney. Drillers use millions of gallons of water in the hydraulic fracturing process, which injects sand, water and chemicals underground at high pressure to release trapped oil and natural gas from shale formations. Less water means less drilling, analysts say...more