I was there. Why else were these consolidations happening in times when oil prices were around $10/bbl?
If you have a different theory, I'd love to hear it. My family and my friends went through it. I still had a job. A lot of them didn't.
A 250% increase in drilling activity domestically is not going to impact the global market that much. Demand is that high, and it's a global market. There is no way that the US can drill enough oil prospects to cause a world glut. Even if the enviros cooperate.
We could make a major dent, but this story is all about how oil companies conspire to cause shortages. The media has poisoned the minds of the public. The proof is here on this thread in a conservative forum.
Are the drilling figures for domestic production or worldwide production? If the figures are for domestic production, was any part of that production exported? If so it seems extremely odd, since we are a gross importer of crude, that we would be exporting domestic production unless it was exported to be to be re-imported at an inflated price.
The above is present only as questions, not to be taken as a statement.