US Oil Production Sets 2019 Record

Annual U.S. crude oil production reached another record level at 12.23 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019, 1.24 million b/d, or 11%, more than the previous year. The jump was smaller than the 17% growth rate in 2018.

Monthly U.S. oil production in November 2019 averaged 12.86 million b/d, the most monthly oil production in U.S. history, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Petroleum Supply Monthly. Oil production has risen notably during the past 10 years, driven largely by horizontal drilling and fracking operations, according to the EIA.

Texas is still in the lead on producing more oil than any other state or region of the U.S., accounting for 41% of the nation’s 2019 total. According to the EIA, Texas oil production averaged 5.07 million b/d in 2019 and hit a monthly record of 5.35 million b/d in December 2019. Texas’ production increase of almost 660,000 b/d in 2019—driven by the Permian Basin—was 53% of the total U.S. increase for the year.

Overall, Texas oil production has grown by 3.9 million b/d, or 333%, since 2010, the agency stated.

Other U.S. states or regions also set production records in 2019. In addition to boosting production in Texas, the Permian provided a 248,000 b/d (36%) oil production increase in New Mexico. This was the second-largest state-level growth in 2019 and made up 20% of the nation’s increase. Last year, New Mexico set an oil production record for the third straight year, growing by 749,000 b/d since 2010, according to the EIA.

In the Offshore Federal Gulf of Mexico, oil production grew by 126,000 b/d in 2019, resulting in the area’s highest annual average production of 1.88 million b/d. The region was the second-largest oil producing area in the U.S. in 2019.

Colorado and North Dakota also set record production levels in 2019 of about 514,000 b/d and 1.4 million b/d, respectively. Oklahoma production climbed by 32,000 b/d in 2019 but did not beat its record production of 613,000 b/d established in 1967.

Meanwhile, Alaska’s oil production slid for the second year in a row, and California’s production dipped for a fifth straight year, the agency said.

The EIA has forecast that U.S. oil production will continue growing in 2020 to an average of 13.2 million b/d and to 13.6 million b/d in 2021. The lion’s share of the growth is expected to happen in the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico.

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