The decline in oil prices depends on the rate of decline in mining costs.

The reason why harder than gas oil from shale mined because it is denser and more does not easily flow.Hydraulic fracturing In addition, although these storage are used horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology (shale gas boom rely on these technologies) mined, but shale oil (or more broader category of the "tight oil" (tight oil)) mining costs, may be the most easy to exploit the Middle East crude oil extraction costs more than 20 times.

As long as oil prices near $ 100 a barrel, the U.S. shale oil production profit margins are still very impressive. U.S. independent oil prices Continental Resources Inc.Proppant (Continental Resources) is America's new oil boom hotspots - North Dakota Bakken Shale (Bakken Shale) of the major oil producers. The company said last year that the total cost of a barrel of oil equivalent (including production taxes, depreciation and loss account) of only $ 35. In 2012, the company increased production by 58%, profit growth of 72%.

Many small U.S. oil company situation is similar. Overall, U.S. crude oil production increased by nearly 50 percent so, 500 million barrels per day from 2008 lows in February this year rose to 720 million barrels per day.

Petroleum industry is expected that this growth will continue. For example, Continental Resources Inc.frac sand on the development of production growth to 2017, twice the target.

Statoil (Statoil) is the only one in the Bakken shale has considerable business of international oil companies. The company has developed to the late 2010s when the North American production increased more than twice the target, that is, from today, about 15 million barrels of oil equivalent per day increased to 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and that the shale oil and shale gas contribution to production or 300,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent or more.

However, the company's vice president of U.S. onshore oil Thor Stein? Horace (Torstein Hole) warned that the expected increase in oil prices has a critical influence.hydraulic fracturing He said: "Our ability to achieve its objectives depends on the market and the production level of profitability."