Falling crude prices are hitting smaller US producers hard, with scores faced with the difficult choice of either shutting older high-cost wells or burning through cash in the hope of riding out the downturn.
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An idled pump jack, once used to extract crude oil from the ground, and a tank battery, used to temporarily store the freshly-pumped crude, rust away in a farmer’s field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
Idled oil well pumps sit at a yard in Woodlawn, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
An idled pump jack, once used to extract crude oil from the ground, and a tank battery, used to temporarily store the freshly-pumped crude, rust away in a farmer’s field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
The US oil industry slowing its blistering growth and dialing back expansion plans after the fall in crude prices. Above, an idled pump jack near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
Pipes used to pump oil from a well rust near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
Barclays has said in a report that North America’s energy producers will cut capital spending by as much as 30 per cent this year if oil remains near $50 a barrel. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
The US oil industry is slowing its blistering growth and dialing back expansion plans after the fall in crude prices. A pump used for pumping crude oil from the ground sits above a well near McLeansboro, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
An idled pump jack sits rusting above a well on the edge of a farmers field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
Barclays has said in a report that North America’s energy producers will cut capital spending by as much as 30 per cent this year if oil remains near $50 a barrel. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
An idled pump jack sits rusting above a well on the edge of a farmers field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
An idled pump jack sits rusting above a well on the edge of a farmers field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
Pipes used to pump oil from a well rust near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
An idled pump jack sits rusting above a well on the edge of a farmers field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
An idled pump jack sits rusting above a well on the edge of a farmers field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP -
A tank battery, used to temporarily store crude oil pumped from the ground, sits near an oil well in a farmer’s field near Ridgway, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images / AFP
US wells shutting down as oil prices fall — in pictures
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