US Oil Output Nears New Record High

• US Oil Output Nears New Record High

US crude oil production will, for the first time in nearly 50 years, climb to 10 million barrels per day by March 2018, the US Energy Information Administration has said.

Such a level would mark the highest daily US production rate since November 1970, when production climbed to nearly 10.05 million bpd and averaged about 9.64 million bpd for that year, according to government data. The November 1970 figure remains the all-time high, according to Platts.

“Increased drilling activity in US tight oil basins, especially those located in Texas, is the main contributor to oil production growth, as the total number of active rigs drilling for oil in the United States has more than doubled over the past 12 months,” the EIA’s acting Administrator, Howard Gruenspecht, said in a statement.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA said it sees US crude output averaging 9.33 million bpd this year and 10.01 million bpd in 2018.

“Growth in US production has been the largest contributor to the 800,000 bpd of non-OPEC liquids supply growth from January through May 2017,” the EIA said in its report.

Production in the Lower 48 states, which fell as low as 6.61 million bpd in September 2016, climbed to 7.01 million bpd in May and is now forecast to reach 7.8 million bpd by December 2018, according to EIA.