/ 22 August 2015

US oil production beats drill chill

Shale oil has sparked an energy boom in the US.
Shale oil has sparked an energy boom in the US.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its United States crude production outlook for this year and next, as lower prices reduce the number of drilling rigs.

The agency reduced its forecast by 1.2% to 9.36-million barrels a day this year, according to its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. Production will still be up 650 000 barrels a day from 2014. It reduced its 2016 forecast to 8.96-million barrels a day from 9.32-million.

The US’s oil drillers have sidelined more than half the country’s rigs since October as prices have tumbled. But, even with fewer rigs, output is set to reach the highest level in more than three decades as new techniques boost the productivity of wells in shale formations.

“While US crude oil production this year is expected to be 100 000 barrels per day less than previously forecast, oil output is still on track to be the highest since 1972,” EIA administrator Adam Sieminski said in an emailed statement.

The number of active oil rigs in the US, although down from 1 609 in October, rose by six to 670 last week, the third straight weekly gain, data compiled by Baker Hughes showed.

Number of oil rigs in the United States

West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark crude, will average $49.62 a barrel this year rather than the July projection of $55.51, according to the report. WTI fell $1.88, or 4.2%, to settle at $43.08 in New York on Tuesday, the lowest close since 2009.

The EIA reduced its 2015 estimate for Brent crude, the European benchmark, to $54.40 from $60.22. Petrol at US pumps will average $0.64 a litre in 2015, down from last month’s estimate of $0.66.

Oil production probably began to decline in May and will continue falling into early 2016, the EIA said. Output will rebound in the second quarter of 2016, returning to an average of 9.6-million barrels during the last three months of the year.

Output from US shale regions will decline by about 92 000 barrels a day next month to 5.27-million, the EIA said. It’s the fifth straight month a slide is expected, after output more than tripled from 2007.

Shale producers such as EOG Resources have cut spending and reduced output after oil prices fell more than 20% from their 2015 peak in June, and remain down by more than half from a year ago. – © Bloomberg