As reported August 22, 2016 in The Barrel blog by Starr Spencer, Senior writer, oil, S&P Global Platts

The second quarter was a pivotal three months that saw rising crude prices and rig counts, well performance improvements and a brighter tone from US upstream operators who had weathered a tough downturn, and ominous crude prices in early 2016.

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When crude prices fell back to $40/b from yearly highs over $50/b just as they were going through their quarterly earnings calls, US operators didn’t flinch from their production plans, Evercore ISI analyst Stephen Richardson said.

“If anything, the market was rewarding clarity on 2017…and telling us it still has confidence” in next year—at which point crude should be at least $50/b, Richardson said in an audio clip.

Jefferies analyst Jonathan Wolff went a step farther, characterizing upstream company managers on quarterly calls...

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