AEC: U.S. Oil Production to Remain Steady Despite Sagging Prices

Oil production in the United States will continue its muscular output despite falling oil prices, according to federal estimates reported recently by USA Today.

The national oil boom that sent crude production soaring last year and contributed to plummeting oil prices will continue its steady flow of crude this year and next, the article states. Surging production in recent years has driven the United States past Russia as the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas, according to a recent report by Bloomberg.

Total U.S. crude oil production is expected to average 9.4 million barrels a day this year and 9.3 million barrels a day for 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Crude oil prices are projected to remain below $63 a barrel through 2016, according to the agency. The EIA also expects monthly average gasoline prices to decline the rest of the year, averaging $2.43 a gallon during the second half of 2015, down from $2.72 a gallon in May.

“U.S. oil production since mid-2014 has been more resilient to lower crude prices than many had expected,” said EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski. “Despite the large decline in crude oil prices since June 2014, this May’s estimated oil output in the United States is the highest for any month since 1972.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that U.S. oil production rose to a record last year, gaining 1.6 million barrels a day, citing BP Plc’s recently released Statistical Review of World Energy. “The data showing the U.S.’s emergence as the top driller confirms a trend that’s helped the world’s largest economy reduce imports, caused a slump in global energy prices and shifted the country’s foreign policy priorities,” Bloomberg wrote.

To read more about this story, and for a link to the original Bloomberg Article, visit American Energy Coalition.org; and while there, please consider becoming an AEC Member Supporter by pressing the “Make a Donation” button to make a secure online contribution.