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Oil and Gas Sector Increasingly Influences U.S. Business Fixed Investment
With U.S. oil production more than doubling over the past decade, the upstream oil and gas sector—essentially exploration, production and oilfield services—has become a more important part of business investment in equipment and structures. Capital deployment in the sector boosted growth in nonresidential fixed investment during 2017 and the first half of 2018. However, since then, oil prices have declined about 15 percent, with oil and gas firms cutting capital expenditures and becoming a drag on fixed investment growth. This suggests that some economic gains from lower oil prices for consumers might be offset by a ... (full story)