If gas prices are so high, why aren’t shale drillers pumping more oil?...
The Wall Street Journal notes one reason: Their executives are no longer incentivized to ramp up output. After years of losses, investors demanded changes to how bonuses are formulated, pushing for more emphasis on profitability. Now, executives who were paid to pump are rewarded more for keeping costs down and returning cash to shareholders. The focus on profitability over growth helps explain drillers’ muted response to the highest prices for oil and natural gas in more than a decade.