WASHINGTON: US oil production will continue its surge to hit a record 9.6m barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, the US Energy Department said yesterday in its annual forecast.
Riding the gains in production from “tight” oil — such as shale reserves tapped by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, US crude output will add another 800,000 barrels a day over the next two years, the department’s Energy Information Administration said.
After the 2016 peak, which will top the previous high set in 1970, oil production will stabilize and then begin tailing off beginning in 2020. But, meanwhile, natural gas production will also continue to surge mainly from fracking-based exploration, with the EIA predicting a rise of 56 percent between 2012 and 2040.
The forecast “shows that advanced technologies for crude oil and natural gas production are continuing to increase domestic supply and reshape the US energy economy as well as expand the potential for US natural gas exports,” said EIA administrator Adam Sieminski.
“Growing domestic hydrocarbon production is also reducing our net dependence on imported oil and benefiting the US economy as natural gas-intensive industries boost their output,” he said.
AFP
