14 DAY TRIAL // The Energy Information Administration in the United States says that the country's oil industry is now producing more of this fuel than it has over the past 25 years. Thus, oil production in this part of the world is argued to be at its highest level since 1989.
On its website, the Energy Information Administration details that, back in 2013, the country's oil industry coughed out an average 7.5 million barrels per day.
By comparison, the oil production documented in 2012 averaged roughly 967,000 barrels per day less. This means that, when compared to this year, 2013's output was about 15% higher.
“Total U.S. crude oil production averaged 7.5 million bbl/d in 2013, 967,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) higher than 2012 and the highest level of U.S. production since 1989,” the Administration writes.
“The 15% increase in U.S. production from 2012 to 2013 was the largest annual percentage increase since 1940,” it goes on to detail.
By the looks of it, the United States owes its oil production boom chiefly to exploitation activities in the Bakken, North Dakota, and the Eagle Ford, Texas.
Together, these two oil fields are estimated to account for as much as 85% of the increase in oil production documented in the country in 2013.
More precisely, the Bakken is said to have averaged 0.9 million barrels per day in 2013. The Eagle Ford, on the other hand, is estimated to have had an average output of 1.22 million barrels per day.
According to the Energy Information Administration, oil production also upped in the following three states: Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Specialists working with the Administration estimate that the country's oil industry will continue to develop in the months to come and that production will hit an average of 8.4 million barrels per day this year.
As far as the year 2015 is concerned, it is expected that oil production will continue to up and hit an average of over 9.2 million barrels per day.
“STEO [Short-Term Energy Outlook] projects crude oil production growth to be concentrated primarily in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Permian formations through 2015,” the Administration details.
“STEO also projects Gulf of Mexico production to rise in the near term, increasing 140,000 bbl/d in 2014 and an additional 210,000 bbl/d the following year to average 1.6 million bbl/d in 2015,” it adds.
As was to be expected, it would appear that, courtesy of this increase in oil production, imports fell by 10% in 2013, when compared to the previous year. Specifically, they reached 7.6 million barrels per day, i.e. their lowest level since 1996.