"The oil industry was sharply divided yesterday as Texas regulators weighed the first proposed oil cut since the 1970s to address the novel coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown.

Small oil producers that helped create the shale drilling and fracking boom that turned the United States into the biggest oil-producing country have said a production cut is the only way to save thousands of jobs among independent drillers.

Two companies, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Parsley Energy Inc., asked the Texas Railroad Commission to curtail the state's output by 20%, acknowledging that the free market system can't cope with the economic downturn. They were joined at a commission hearing by dozens of other small and large oil companies to debate the plan."

Mike Lee reports for Energywire April 15, 2020. [2]