U.S. EXECUTIVES SEE CAPITAL SPENDING RISING IN 2021

About half of U.S. energy company executives polled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas expect their firms to increase capital spending in 2021, and another quarter of respondents see those expenditures remaining flat next year, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The coronavirus crisis wiped out as much as a third of global fuel demand and sent U.S. benchmark crude prices crashing in April. Oil and gas companies slashed budgets and curtailed production. About 25 per cent of the respondents said they expected their firms to increase capital spending slightly. Of the executives polled from Dec. 9 to Dec. 17, two-thirds headed up exploration and production companies; the others were in oilfield services.