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It used to be, my understanding is that these days many fracking operations are viable at $40 a barrel.

The US didn't become the world's largest oil producer by producing the most expensive oil.

$40/barrel break even is still way more than most conventional oil fields. It's killed off say, tar sands and some of the more expensive off shore/arctic plays (say, like some pre-salt fields). The other thing about shale is that it tends to be short cycle (most of the production in a few years), rather than long cycle payoffs. That might be more attractive to majors avoiding risks.

Why do you care if the saudis can extract it cheaper especially considering they are the ones manipulating the supply just to increase their profits? As long as I'm going to pay 60 bucks a barrel, I'd rather pay my fellow americans especially since it is making us energy independent which hopefully means we can avoid any more stupid wars in the middle east (one can dream at least).

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