Shale is profitable because oil prices per barrel hit over 100$ in the 2000s. It's our answer to the OPEC oil cartel, and the reason they dumped all their oil for pennies on the dollar at the start of Covid - "This time we'll REALLY drive shale out of business and we can raise prices again in 5 years!!!"

Today from a cursory google, oil prices per barrel are over 70$.

Fortunately for our society we subsidized it to survive this brief period.