Why do you find this improbable? It's easily verifiable. This is all public financial data we're talking about. Here are some sources to avoid having to crunch the data though:
The technology improvements (namely horizontal drilling) have just allowed the companies to suck more oil out faster. It hasn't changed the economics of it. Particularly because you're dealing with an expendable resource and to move on to the next well requires further capital investment.
Here is a great (recent) podcast that discusses exactly what I'm talking about:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/opinion/the-next-financia...
http://ieefa.org/ieefa-u-s-more-red-flags-on-fracking-focuse...
The technology improvements (namely horizontal drilling) have just allowed the companies to suck more oil out faster. It hasn't changed the economics of it. Particularly because you're dealing with an expendable resource and to move on to the next well requires further capital investment.
Here is a great (recent) podcast that discusses exactly what I'm talking about:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2018-12-13/bethany-mcle...