After their sharp drop late last year, oil prices have been trading in a relatively steady band for more than a month, raising an obvious question: Has the market hit a bottom?

A number of fundamentals suggest not yet: Global storage levels are brimming. Economies in the U.S., Europe and Asia are all mixed, clouding demand forecasts. And some of the world’s biggest producers—including Saudi Arabia, its fellow OPEC members and Russia—are still pumping at full speed. All of that means the global glut of oil that caused the big price drop in the first place isn’t likely to ease soon.

Still, some investors and analysts expect a new market equilibrium to eventually take hold, one based on the assumption that U.S. shale producers can react to prices much faster than conventional drillers. Some say it may already be happening.

“We think (shale production) is a lot more responsive to price changes,” said Antoine Halff, head of oil and markets at the International Energy Agency, the global watchdog for consuming countries, in a recent speech. “This will make this recovery much different than previous ones…we see the market to be a little more smooth and balanced than in previous price swings.”

U.S. shale production is now a key component of global supply—growing from almost nothing to 3.6 million barrels a day last year, according to the IEA. That is still a fraction of the approximately 30 million barrels of crude that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pump each day. But shale capacity can be switched on and off much more quickly than conventional wells, providing a more-immediate supply response to price moves, analysts say.