Crude oil production in the U.S. reached a new record high of 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for the week ending Aug. 23, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
The last time the U.S. crude oil production reached a record high level was seen for the week ending May 31 when output reached 12.4 million bpd, the EIA data showed.
The world's biggest crude oil producer saw its output increase by 61,000 bpd in the state of Alaska, and by 100,000 bpd in rest of the states, from approximately 12.3 million bpd the prior week.
In October 2018, U.S. crude output reached 11.2 mbpd, unseating Saudi Arabia as the largest producer globally. In November 2018, U.S. crude oil output rose to 11.7 mbpd, surpassing Russia, to become the world's largest crude producer.
Crude oil production in the U.S. is expected to average 12.3 million bpd in 2019 and 13.3 million bpd in 2020, according to the EIA's Short Term Energy Outlook report for August.
- Fall in crude stocks surpasses expectations
The U.S.' commercial crude oil inventories fell by 10 million barrels, or 2.3%, to 427.8 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 23. This drawdown was much higher than the market expectation of a decline of 2 million barrels. Crude inventories decreased by 2.7 million barrels the previous week, the EIA's data shows.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 644.8 million barrels last week, according to the data.
Gasoline inventories also fell by 2.1 million barrels, or 0.9%, to 232 million barrels during that period, more than the market expectation of a decline of 0.4 million barrels. During the previous week, gasoline inventories saw an increase of 0.3 million barrels.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr