US oil producers have risen to the challenge over the five-plus months of crisis in the Mideast Gulf, helping fill the global supply gap with output gains few would have predicted at the start of the year. The gains have been modest, but they contrast with prewar expectations of flat-to-declining shale production resulting from persistent capital discipline and fears of an oversupplied global market. Capital discipline and operational efficiency remain hallmarks of the US shale patch, and operators have managed to produce more this year without material capital expenditure increases. While few operators are signaling higher spending this year or next, signs are pointing to increased US upstream activity in the near term, with a continued focus on efficiency and likely incremental gains in output. Private shale companies have driven most of the US production growth so far this year, but larger publics could be more involved in the next phase of growth, Andy Hendricks, CEO of drilling and fracking contractor Patterson-UTI, said. The "current strip" showing crude priced at around $70 per barrel through the end of 2027 "supports a higher pace of US shale drilling and completion activity than we are seeing today," Hendricks said last month. His firm is one of many reporting increased inquiries from large E&Ps about adding rigs and frack spreads to the field. "I feel like the larger or public operators are using this [Mideast] conflict as an opportunity to pull forward [20]27 planning," said Sam Sledge, CEO of Permian Basin fracking specialist ProPetro. Industry data points to an uptick in activity: The Baker Hughes oil rig count is up about 12% since late April, while Primary Vision's tally of frack spreads flipped in mid-May from a year-on-year decline to an annual gain and now stands 33 units above where it did a year ago.