EIA: 2018 US crude production set to hit record levels

Fracking has seen American crude production reach levels not seen since the 1970s, with Texas leading the way.

November 2017 set a new peak for US crude production in a single month at over 10 million barrels per day (b/d). The US’ Energy Information Agency expects industry will continue performing over the next two years, projecting that 2018 and 2019 will average 10.7 million and 11.3 million b/d respectively. The agency says that the growth is primarily down to operations using hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) and horizontal drilling to exploit oil and gas reservoirs.

The current record for production was set at 9.6 million b/d in 1970. 2017 came close to that record with an average of 9.3 million b/d.

2012 was the first year that the majority of oil in the US was produced using hydraulic fracturing; this grew to 69% of production in 2016 according to numbers published by the EIA.

Texas leads in crude production, with over 3.5 million b/d recorded in 2017. The next closest area is offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico more than 1.6 million b/d.

Texas also saw the largest growth in production from 2016 to 2017, adding 300,000 barrels per day. The area with the second largest growth by b/d, New Mexico, added seventy four.

See the original EIA release here.