Oil price drop could hit US drilling budgets for 2019

North American oil producers that have been increasing spending to take advantage of this year's higher prices will dial back as November's reversal fuels worries about a 2019 surplus, energy executives say, reports Reuters.

US light sweet crude settled on Friday at $50.42 a barrel, down nearly 23 per cent since October and the lowest in more than a year over worries about oversupply and the Sino-US trade war. The drop comes as many oil producers are assembling drilling budgets for 2019.

"Everybody's going to get hit," said Cole Frederick, co-founder of Peak Land Services, which helps oil companies acquire properties in Texas shale fields. He noted, however, that November's price is well above the lows that put hundreds of smaller companies out of business in early 2016.