KISS OF DEATH?

CNBC is reporting an interview with U.S. Energy Secretary Ernst Moniz that despite all the bleakness, U.S. Energy production is just fine.

Is it the kiss of death or just another government official sent out to sooth for now the ruffled feathers of an industry feeling the pain of falling prices and too much regulation from an administration that's pushed regulation and caused much pain?

Despite the ongoing weekly closures of U.S. oil rigs, spending cuts and the cancellation of drilling projects in the U.S. shale oil industry amid slumping oil prices, the U.S. energy secretary told CNBC that the country's oil production will recover.

"Oil production in the U.S. has not dramatically dropped, it has gone down a little bit but it's up by four million barrels a day from a few years ago," U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told CNBC.

"Our Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects that the average production this year will still be above 9 million barrels a day so the drop-off is not viewed as precipitous. Presumably, the expectations are over time that we'll see a slow reversal of that drop-off and that production will be restored."

"We are certainly not resource limited," Moniz added, noting as well that the country's natural gas production was continuing to rise despite lower gas prices. He said the country's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports would come onto the market early next year. More:

.cnbc.com/2015/12/08/us-shale-oil-industry-will-recover-us-energy-sec.